Send Email from Linux Command Line using SSMTP (Ubuntu, Gmail, AWS)

$ sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install ssmtp 2. Configuring SSMTP Once installed, you need to configure SSMTP to use your SMTP server details. The configuration file is located at  /etc/ssmtp/ssmtp.conf . Open this file in a text editor: sudo nano /etc/ssmtp/ssmtp.conf 3. Configuring SSMTP for Gmail To use Gmail’s SMTP server, add the following configuration to  ssmtp.conf : hostname=YOUR-EmailServer root=username@gmail.com mailhub=smtp.gmail.com:587 AuthUser=username@gmail.com AuthPass=yourpassword FromLineOverride=YES UseSTARTTLS=YES Replace  username@gmail.com  with your Gmail address and  yourpassword  with your Gmail password. For enhanced security, consider using an App Password generated from your Google account. 4. Configuring SSMTP for Amazon AWS SES To use Amazon AWS SES as your SMTP server, add the following configuration: root=your-aws-email@example.com mailhub=email-smtp.us-east-1.amazonaws.com:587 AuthUser=your-aws-smtp-username AuthPass=your-aws-smtp-password UseSTARTTLS=YES Replace  your-aws-email@example.com  with your verified AWS SES email address, and  your-aws-smtp-username  and  your-aws-smtp-password  with your AWS SMTP credentials. 5. Sending an Email To send an email using SSMTP, you can use the following command: echo "Subject: Test Email" | ssmtp recipient@example.com You can also send a more detailed email by including the email body: echo -e "Subject: Test Email\n\nThis is the body of the email." | ssmtp recipient@example.com 6. Using SSMTP in Scripts SSMTP can be integrated into your scripts to automate the sending of emails. Here is a simple example of a script that sends an email notification: #!/bin/bash TO="recipient@example.com" SUBJECT="Backup Completed" BODY="The backup process has completed successfully." echo -e "Subject: $SUBJECT\n\n$BODY" | ssmtp $TO Save this script, make it executable, and run it: chmod +x send_email.sh ./send_email.sh Troubleshooting Authentication Errors : Ensure your SMTP credentials are correct. For Gmail, consider using an App Password. Network Issues : Verify that your server can connect to the SMTP server by checking your network settings and firewall rules. Sending emails from the Linux command line using SSMTP is a straightforward process. Whether you are using Gmail or Amazon AWS as your SMTP server, this guide provides the necessary steps to configure and use SSMTP for sending emails. Automating email notifications can be a powerful tool for system administration and development workflows.

Risk level: destructive. Review the command before running it.