How to send simple email using Python

Question

Before you mark this as a duplicate; I've read the other threads as well. I'm trying to send an email as simple as using the mail() function in php. I simply tried the example from the official python docs. But when I try to connect with the localhost on my linux machine I get:

>>> import smtplib
>>> smtplib.SMTP('localhost')
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<input>", line 1, in <module>
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/smtplib.py", line 251, in __init__
    (code, msg) = self.connect(host, port)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/smtplib.py", line 311, in connect
    self.sock = self._get_socket(host, port, self.timeout)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/smtplib.py", line 286, in _get_socket
    return socket.create_connection((host, port), timeout)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/socket.py", line 571, in create_connection
    raise err
error: [Errno 111] Connection refused

I thought this example didn't need an email server to run (just like the php mail() function doesn't need an email-server to run).

Any ideas what I might be doing wrong or how I can get this to send an email? All tips are welcome!

Do you have mail server on your localhost ? If not then you can't connect to it. — furas
– furas, Commented Jul 20, 2014 at 19:39

Burhan Khalid · Accepted Answer · 2014-07-20 19:40:35Z

1

The php mail() function does need a relay to send messages. It defaults to sendmail on Linux machines.

On Windows you have to give it the address of a SMTP server.

In order for any program to send email, you need to connect to a SMTP server. There is no running around that.

answered Jul 20, 2014 at 19:40

Burhan Khalid

175k20 gold badges254 silver badges291 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

kramer65 Over a year ago

Ah! I never knew the php mail() function actually needed an external program (because it always "just worked"). But I just sudo apt-get installed sendmail, and now it works like a charm! Thanks for enlightening me!

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

How to send simple email using Python

1 Answer 1

1 Comment

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

1 Comment

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related