Skip to content

MailHog for PHP Development

MailHog is a lightweight email testing tool that captures outgoing emails sent from your PHP application, allowing you to inspect them in a web interface without actually sending them to real recipients. This tutorial covers installing, configuring, and using MailHog with PHP.

Prerequisites

  • A local development environment (e.g., XAMPP, MAMP, or a custom PHP setup)
  • PHP installed (recommended: PHP 7.4+)
  • Access to the command line

Step 1: Install MailHog

On Linux/macOS

  1. Download MailHog: 
    wget https://github.com/mailhog/MailHog/releases/download/v1.0.1/MailHog_linux_amd64 -O MailHog
  2. Make it executable: 
    chmod +x MailHog
  3. Move it to /usr/local/bin/ for global access: 
    sudo mv MailHog /usr/local/bin/

On Windows

  1. Download the latest MailHog binary from MailHog Releases
  2. Rename the file to MailHog.exe
  3. Move it to a directory in your system's PATH (e.g., C:\MailHog\)
  4. Add the directory to your system PATH (optional for easier access)

Step 2: Start MailHog

Run the following command in your terminal or command prompt: 

MailHog
By default, MailHog runs: - The SMTP server on localhost:1025 - The web interface on localhost:8025

Step 3: Configure PHP to Use MailHog

Edit your php.ini file to configure PHP’s mail settings to route emails through MailHog.

Locate and update these settings: 

[mail function]
SMTP = 127.0.0.1
smtp_port = 1025
sendmail_path = ""

If you are using sendmail, update the sendmail configuration: 

sendmail_path = "/usr/sbin/sendmail -t -i"

Restart your web server (Apache/Nginx) after making these changes.

Step 4: Test Email Sending in PHP

Create a simple PHP script to send an email:

<?php
$to = "test@example.com";
$subject = "Test Email";
$message = "This is a test email sent via MailHog.";
$headers = "From: no-reply@example.com";

if (mail($to, $subject, $message, $headers)) {
    echo "Email sent successfully.";
} else {
    echo "Failed to send email.";
}
?>

Save and run the script. Then, open http://localhost:8025/ in your browser to view the email.

Step 5: Advanced MailHog Usage

Access Emails via API

MailHog provides an API to fetch emails programmatically: 

curl http://localhost:8025/api/v2/messages

Running MailHog in the Background

To keep MailHog running, you can use: 

nohup MailHog > mailhog.log 2>&1 &

Using Docker

If you prefer Docker, run MailHog with: 

docker run -d -p 1025:1025 -p 8025:8025 mailhog/mailhog

MailHog is an excellent tool for testing email functionality in PHP applications without actually sending emails. By following this tutorial, you can set up and use MailHog efficiently for debugging email workflows.

For more details, visit the MailHog GitHub repository.