diff --git a/app/Jobs/Mail/NinjaMailerJob.php b/app/Jobs/Mail/NinjaMailerJob.php
index 83a5b62bff7e..fc7eb610590f 100644
--- a/app/Jobs/Mail/NinjaMailerJob.php
+++ b/app/Jobs/Mail/NinjaMailerJob.php
@@ -210,6 +210,12 @@ class NinjaMailerJob implements ShouldQueue
                 $user = $user->fresh();
             }
 
+                //17-01-2022 - ensure we have a token otherwise we fail gracefully to default sending engine
+                if(strlen($user->oauth_user_token) == 0){
+                    $this->nmo->settings->email_sending_method = 'default';
+                    return $this->setMailDriver();
+                }
+
             $google->getClient()->setAccessToken(json_encode($user->oauth_user_token));
 
             //need to slow down gmail requests otherwise we hit 429's
diff --git a/config/database.php b/config/database.php
index 8c0d15cdf936..b5305f4d6547 100644
--- a/config/database.php
+++ b/config/database.php
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 <?php
 
+use App\Utils\Ninja;
+
 return [
 
     /*
@@ -94,9 +96,8 @@ return [
             'prefix_indexes' => true,
             'strict'         => env('DB_STRICT', false),
             'engine'         => 'InnoDB ROW_FORMAT=DYNAMIC',
-            //  'options'   => array(
-            //     PDO::ATTR_EMULATE_PREPARES => true
-            // ),
+            'ssl_mode'       => env('SSL_MODE',''),
+            // 'options'        => Ninja::isHosted() ? config('ninja.db_options') : [],
         ],
 
         'db-ninja-01a' => [
@@ -112,9 +113,8 @@ return [
             'prefix_indexes' => true,
             'strict'         => env('DB_STRICT', false),
             'engine'         => 'InnoDB ROW_FORMAT=DYNAMIC',
-            //  'options'   => array(
-            //     PDO::ATTR_EMULATE_PREPARES => true
-            // ),
+            'ssl_mode'       => env('SSL_MODE',''), //required
+            // 'options'        => Ninja::isHosted() ? config('ninja.db_options') : [],
         ],
 
         'db-ninja-02' => [
@@ -130,9 +130,8 @@ return [
             'prefix_indexes' => true,
             'strict'         => env('DB_STRICT', false),
             'engine'         => 'InnoDB ROW_FORMAT=DYNAMIC',
-            //  'options'   => array(
-            //     PDO::ATTR_EMULATE_PREPARES => true
-            // ),
+            'ssl_mode'       => env('SSL_MODE',''),
+            // 'options'        => Ninja::isHosted() ? config('ninja.db_options') : [],
         ],
 
         'db-ninja-02a' => [
@@ -148,9 +147,8 @@ return [
             'prefix_indexes' => true,
             'strict'         => env('DB_STRICT', false),
             'engine'         => 'InnoDB ROW_FORMAT=DYNAMIC',
-            //  'options'   => array(
-            //     PDO::ATTR_EMULATE_PREPARES => true
-            // ),
+            'ssl_mode'       => env('SSL_MODE',''),
+            // 'options'        => Ninja::isHosted() ? config('ninja.db_options') : [],
         ],
     ],
 
diff --git a/config/ninja.php b/config/ninja.php
index d8292a5e6435..f2d1b9ab3a2a 100644
--- a/config/ninja.php
+++ b/config/ninja.php
@@ -59,6 +59,12 @@ return [
         'default' => env('DB_CONNECTION', 'mysql'),
     ],
 
+    'db_options' => [
+                PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_SSL_KEY => env("DB_CLIENT_KEY", ''),
+                PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_SSL_CERT => env("DB_CLIENT_CERT", ''),
+                PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_SSL_CA => env("DB_CA_CERT", ''),
+    ],
+
     'i18n' => [
         'timezone_id' => env('DEFAULT_TIMEZONE', 1),
         'country_id' => env('DEFAULT_COUNTRY', 840), // United Stated