gmail is blocking M1 emails

[Malcolm Johnson]

I am trying to set up emails sent from M1 to my gmail account.  When I test I find that they don’t go through but I get a warning saying that an attempt was made to access my account from a less secure site.  I then set gmail to allow access to less secure accounts and then the emails came through.  However I don’t want to keep that setting in gmail against their security warning.  I just updated all of my firmware and software to the latest M1 and RP2 versions.

[Jerry Galu]

I had a similar problem had to research what port would work. I found that 465 and server address http://smtp.gmail.com with your user name (email). My only issue with using gmail is it sometimes delays the notification so looking for some other free service.

[Malcolm Johnson]

Jerry, Thanks for the reply.  However I have been using 465 and that gmail smpt.  An email gets set to my gmail address but I can’t open it.  Google send me the following message:

 

Someone just used your password to try to sign in to your account from a non-Google app. Google blocked them, but you should check what happened. Review your account activity to make sure no one else has access.

 

If I change the google settings to allow non secure emails, which Google doesn’t recommend, then the emails do come through but I don’t want to leave that setting.

[Bruce Cowan]

I use gmail with no issues

here is my configuration using elkRP2 application:

1) select “M1XEP Setup” from the top level page

2)under the “TCP/IP” tab
specify the DNS addresses (to resolve “smtp.gmail.com” set in the next step)
enter your ISP’s primary and secondary DNS server IP’s
secure port: 2601

3) under the “Email” tab
Server URL/IP address: smtp.gmail.com
“From” email address: your email@gmail.com
Port: 465
Username: your gmail account user name
Password: your gmail account password
enter email messages in boxes below

 

[Bruce Cowan]

I believe the message you received from Google is just a warning.

was there any option for you to approve the access from the “non-Goggle app”?

[Bruce Cowan]

and I should add that I have enabled access from “non-Google” apps.   part of the risk I suppose

I only use a specific gmail account for M1 messaging and use a very secure password

 

[Malcolm Johnson]

Bruce,

Thanks for the tip.  I think  you have the solution for me.  I had set up M1 as you described and I did approve access to non-google apps.  When I did that, the emails came through to my account.  But I changed that access because of the warning.  I will set up a separate gmail account and send them from that instead to see how that works

Mal Johnson

[MKG]

There is a better and secure way to give non-Google apps “SMTP access” to the Google account. You can generate an “app password” and use that in ELK. It works as follows:

1. Sign in to your Gmail account security
2. Enable 2-step verification.
3. Create an App password
4. Use this password for SMTP.

The process to generate and use app password is documented here:

https://support.google.com/mail/answer/185833?hl=en-GB

App password works with ELK. It is very secure. Also, it only allows SMTP access to the Google account and NOT the complete access to Gmail/Google account.
Another problem in using “Allow less secure apps” option is that this option get disabled after some time, auto-magically. Unless you check, you don’t know that this option has been disabled.

 

[MKG]

There is much better/secure way to allow non-Google apps (like ELK) to send emails using a Google account. You can define an “app password” and use that in ELK. The “app password” is auto-generated by Google and it contains 16 chars. There is no need open your gmail account to potential hacking. App password is very secure.

I am using app password with ELK. The process to define app password is defined here:

https://support.google.com/mail/answer/185833?hl=en-GB

Hope it helps!
MKG

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