Absolutely! Here’s a comprehensive blog tutorial that covers everything you experienced — from configuring Amazon SES SMTP on a GoDaddy VPS to resolving port blocks and certificate issues — all in one clear, step-by-step guide.

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How to Configure Amazon SES SMTP on GoDaddy VPS with cPanel – Complete Guide (2025)

If you’re trying to set up Amazon SES to send reliable, secure emails from your WordPress website hosted on a GoDaddy VPS with cPanel, you’ve probably hit a few frustrating walls — like SSL handshake failures, SMTP connection issues, or silent email failures.

In this complete tutorial, we’ll walk you through:

• How to set up Amazon SES SMTP in WordPress
• Common GoDaddy VPS issues (like port blocking and SSL errors)
• The hidden workaround using port 2587
• Security best practices

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Prerequisites

• A VPS hosted with GoDaddy and cPanel access
• A verified domain in Amazon SES
• WordPress + WP Mail SMTP plugin installed
• SES SMTP credentials (generated from SES)

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Step 1: Verify Your Domain in Amazon SES

1. Go to Amazon SES Console > Verified Identities
2. Click Create Identity
3. Choose Domain
4. Enter your domain (e.g., yourdomain.com)
5. Copy the DNS records:
   • TXT (for domain verification)
   • CNAME (for DKIM signing)
   • SPF (optional but recommended)
6. Add these to your domain’s DNS using cPanel or your DNS provider
7. Wait for SES to show “Verified” for the domain

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Step 2: Generate Amazon SES SMTP Credentials

1. In the SES console, go to SMTP Settings
2. Click Create SMTP Credentials
3. It will create a new IAM user and give you:
   • SMTP Username
   • SMTP Password

Save these securely.

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Step 3: Configure WP Mail SMTP Plugin in WordPress

1. Go to WP Mail SMTP > Settings
2. Choose Mailer: Other SMTP
3. Configure the following:

Field	Value
SMTP Host	email-smtp.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com
Port	2587 (Amazon’s alternate STARTTLS port)
Encryption	TLS (STARTTLS)
Authentication	Yes
Username	Your SMTP username from SES
Password	Your SMTP password from SES

4. Save settings
5. Send a test email from WP Mail SMTP > Email Test

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Common Issues (and Fixes)

Problem #1: SMTP Error – Could Not Connect to Host

SMTP Error: Could not connect to SMTP host. Connection failed.

Cause: GoDaddy VPS blocks or redirects ports 465 and 587

Fix: Use port 2587 with TLS encryption — this is a hidden gem that usually works

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Problem #2: SSL Certificate Verify Failed

stream_socket_enable_crypto(): SSL operation failed with code 1

Cause: Expired or invalid certificate — but not from Amazon SES! You’re actually being routed to GoDaddy’s own mail relay (s132-148-28-255.secureserver.net) with an expired cert.

Fix:

• Switch to port 2587 so SES connection isn’t intercepted
• Or use Amazon SES API to bypass SMTP entirely

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Bonus: Verifying Your Server Is Connecting to Amazon, Not GoDaddy

Run this in SSH:

openssl s_client -connect email-smtp.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com:465

If you see:

CN = s132-148-28-255.secureserver.net

You’re being redirected by your hosting provider.

Use this instead to test 2587:

openssl s_client -starttls smtp -connect email-smtp.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com:2587

You should see a valid Amazon certificate!

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Alternative: Use Amazon SES API (Recommended for Production)

Instead of SMTP, switch to SES API integration, which:

• Is more secure
• Doesn’t require SMTP ports
• Avoids all SSL/cert errors

WP Mail SMTP supports it directly under Amazon SES Mailer — just generate IAM credentials with ses:SendEmail permission and connect.

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Final Recommendations

Option	Works on GoDaddy VPS?	Reliability	Difficulty
SMTP Port 2587	Yes	High	Easy
SMTP Port 587/465	Blocked/Intercepted	Low	Broken
Amazon SES API	Yes	Best	Medium

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Conclusion

Setting up Amazon SES SMTP on a GoDaddy VPS may seem painful at first, but with the right port (2587) and configurations, you can bypass the restrictions and send secure, reliable emails from your WordPress site.

For production-grade setups, consider switching to SES API — it’s faster, safer, and immune to server-level mail hijacking.

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If you have questions or want help configuring Amazon SES API or SendGrid/Gmail as fallback SMTP — drop a comment or reach out!

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