# Initial Activation email Not sent. What's wrong with this yaml?
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/initial-activation-email-not-sent-whats-wrong-with-this-yaml/316708
**Category:** Self-hosting
**Tags:** email
**Created:** [July 17, 2024, 1:38am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/initial-activation-email-not-sent-whats-wrong-with-this-yaml/316708 "2024-07-17T01:38:58Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@oga](https://meta.discourse.org/u/oga)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2024, 1:38am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/initial-activation-email-not-sent-whats-wrong-with-this-yaml/316708/1 "2024-07-17T01:38:58Z")
I followed the [Standard install](https://meta.discourse.org/t/142537?silent=true) process listed here and I was able to install Discourse without any issues. Problem is, the initial Activation email is NOT being received, so I can’t login and configure the instance.
below is my .yaml file.
My question is, what could be wrong with it?
```yaml
params:
db_default_text_search_config: "pg_catalog.english"
## Set db_shared_buffers to a max of 25% of the total memory.
## will be set automatically by bootstrap based on detected RAM, or you can override
db_shared_buffers: "256MB"
## can improve sorting performance, but adds memory usage per-connection
#db_work_mem: "40MB"
## Which Git revision should this container use? (default: tests-passed)
#version: tests-passed
env:
LC_ALL: en_US.UTF-8
LANG: en_US.UTF-8
LANGUAGE: en_US.UTF-8
# DISCOURSE_DEFAULT_LOCALE: en
## How many concurrent web requests are supported? Depends on memory and CPU cores.
## will be set automatically by bootstrap based on detected CPUs, or you can override
UNICORN_WORKERS: 4
## TODO: The domain name this Discourse instance will respond to
## Required. Discourse will not work with a bare IP number.
DISCOURSE_HOSTNAME: talk.mydomain.com
## Uncomment if you want the container to be started with the same
## hostname (-h option) as specified above (default "$hostname-$config")
#DOCKER_USE_HOSTNAME: true
## TODO: List of comma delimited emails that will be made admin and developer
## on initial signup example 'user1@example.com,user2@example.com'
DISCOURSE_DEVELOPER_EMAILS: 'noreply@talk.mydomain.com'
## TODO: The SMTP mail server used to validate new accounts and send notifications
# SMTP ADDRESS, username, and password are required
# WARNING the char '#' in SMTP password can cause problems!
DISCOURSE_SMTP_ADDRESS: mysmtp.com
DISCOURSE_SMTP_PORT: 587
DISCOURSE_SMTP_USER_NAME: info@talk.mydomain.com
DISCOURSE_SMTP_PASSWORD: "mypassword"
#DISCOURSE_SMTP_ENABLE_START_TLS: true # (optional, default true)
DISCOURSE_SMTP_DOMAIN: mydomain.com
DISCOURSE_NOTIFICATION_EMAIL: info@talk.mydomain.com
## If you added the Lets Encrypt template, uncomment below to get a free SSL certificate
LETSENCRYPT_ACCOUNT_EMAIL: me@example.com
## The http or https CDN address for this Discourse instance (configured to pull)
## see https://meta.discourse.org/t/14857 for details
#DISCOURSE_CDN_URL: https://discourse-cdn.example.com
## The maxmind geolocation IP account ID and license key for IP address lookups
## see https://meta.discourse.org/t/-/173941 for details
#DISCOURSE_MAXMIND_ACCOUNT_ID: 123456
#DISCOURSE_MAXMIND_LICENSE_KEY: 1234567890123456
## The Docker container is stateless; all data is stored in /shared
volumes:
- volume:
host: /var/discourse/shared/standalone
guest: /shared
- volume:
host: /var/discourse/shared/standalone/log/var-log
guest: /var/log
## Plugins go here
## see https://meta.discourse.org/t/19157 for details
hooks:
after_code:
- exec:
cd: $home/plugins
cmd:
- git clone https://github.com/discourse/docker_manager.git
## Any custom commands to run after building
run:
- exec: echo "Beginning of custom commands"
## If you want to set the 'From' email address for your first registration, uncomment and change:
## After getting the first signup email, re-comment the line. It only needs to run once.
#- exec: rails r "SiteSetting.notification_email='info@unconfigured.discourse.org'"
- exec: echo "End of custom commands"
```
---
### Author:  [@Arkshine](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Arkshine)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2024, 1:53am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/initial-activation-email-not-sent-whats-wrong-with-this-yaml/316708/2 "2024-07-17T01:53:44Z")
Hey, could you use the Preformatted button for your file content? It would improve readability. 👍
* * *
If you try to go to `/admin/email` and then send a test email, what happens?
---
### Author:  [@oga](https://meta.discourse.org/u/oga)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2024, 2:31am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/initial-activation-email-not-sent-whats-wrong-with-this-yaml/316708/3 "2024-07-17T02:31:26Z")
Thanks much, I mistakenly clicked post without Reformatting.
As for the Question you asked:
I can’t even Do Initial login to activate the instance using the email to Test. Is there a way to get to the Admin UI without the Activation email?
Installation completed ok.
I go to browser and see the " Congratulations …" message.
I enter the email I used as admin email during setup to attempt to activate, I never get the email.
Stomped at this point, because I don’t see anything wrong with the .yaml.
---
### Author:  [@Arkshine](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Arkshine)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2024, 2:41am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/initial-activation-email-not-sent-whats-wrong-with-this-yaml/316708/4 "2024-07-17T02:41:36Z")
Right, did you try running `./discourse-doctor` in the SSH console? It will ask if you want to send a test email, which might give you a clue.
---
### Author:  [@oga](https://meta.discourse.org/u/oga)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2024, 3:05am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/initial-activation-email-not-sent-whats-wrong-with-this-yaml/316708/5 "2024-07-17T03:05:03Z")
Yes I did, but that too never came. May have to blow the instance away and start all over.
---
### Author:  [@supermathie](https://meta.discourse.org/u/supermathie)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2024, 3:15am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/initial-activation-email-not-sent-whats-wrong-with-this-yaml/316708/6 "2024-07-17T03:15:05Z")
What prints if you run from the container shell:
```plaintext
rake 'emails:test[youremailaddress@yourdomain.com]'
```
---
### Author:  [@oga](https://meta.discourse.org/u/oga)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2024, 3:26am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/initial-activation-email-not-sent-whats-wrong-with-this-yaml/316708/7 "2024-07-17T03:26:37Z")
Restarting the system to load the new kernel will not be handled automatically,
so you should consider rebooting.
No services need to be restarted.
No containers need to be restarted.
No user sessions are running outdated binaries.
No VM guests are running outdated hypervisor (qemu) binaries on this host.
root@talk:/var/discourse# rake ‘emails:test[info@talk.mydomain.com]’
rake aborted!
No Rakefile found (looking for: rakefile, Rakefile, rakefile.rb, Rakefile.rb)
---
### Author:  [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2024, 8:58am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/initial-activation-email-not-sent-whats-wrong-with-this-yaml/316708/8 "2024-07-17T08:58:40Z")
See [Troubleshoot email on a new Discourse install](https://meta.discourse.org/t/troubleshoot-email-on-a-new-discourse-install/16326)
---
### Author:  [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2024, 2:36pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/initial-activation-email-not-sent-whats-wrong-with-this-yaml/316708/9 "2024-07-17T14:36:48Z")
Before running the rake command you need to
```
./launcher enter app
```
> [@oga](#):
>
> May have to blow the instance away and start all over.
Blowing away your install and starting again will likely cause other problems.
See the troubleshooting guide.
---
### Author:  [@oga](https://meta.discourse.org/u/oga)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2024, 3:47pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/initial-activation-email-not-sent-whats-wrong-with-this-yaml/316708/10 "2024-07-22T15:47:10Z")
Thanks to all. I deleted my Digital Ocean one click install and followed the [standard install](https://meta.discourse.org/t/142537?silent=true), everything now works.
HEADS Up to all.
Per DO email I received when I opened a support request, their support is limited to DO infrastructure IF you are not enrolled in “Paid Support” plan.