SMTP Mail Server Help

[benhewitt97]

Hi all,
I've recently been trying to set up my Pi (Model B, 512 Ram) to sent me emails when the temperature gets too high. However, after downloading SSMTP and configuring it, when i go to test it using:

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echo "Test" | mail -s "Test" myemail@mydomain.co.uk

I get the error:

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mail: cannot send message: Process exited with a non-zero status

Any ideas, or a way around this?
Thanks, Ben

[fbutler]

I get the error:

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mail: cannot send message: Process exited with a non-zero status

Try running the command with an additional -d parameter to get some more debug information to help determine the cause of the issue:

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echo "Test" | mail -d -s "Test" myemail@mydomain.co.uk

[benhewitt97]

Just tried that, seems to be no debug option in the mail module... Odd. I tried the command after rephrasing, and removing the 'echo' as i'm not sure what purpose it plays, so my code is now:

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 mail -s "Test" sensei441@hotmail.co.uk

which, on a new line, prints 'Cc:' which i can type into but not end and send the message. I checked my error logs, and noticed this:

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Jun 5 17:56:23 raspberrypi sSMTP[3477]: Creating SSL connection to host
Jun 5 17:56:23 raspberrypi sSMTP[3477]: SSL connection using RSA_ARCFOUR_SHA1
Jun 5 17:56:24 raspberrypi sSMTP[3477]: Authorization failed (535 5.7.8 {BADCREDENTIALS} ay7sm11977366wib.9 - gsmtp)

Any ideas? I really don't want to give up on this!

[fbutler]

Any ideas? I really don't want to give up on this!

Can you post the details of your ssmtp.conf configuration file?

[benhewitt97]

Sure, here you go:

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root=mymail@gmail.com
mailhub=smtp.gmail.com:587
hostname=raspberrypi
FromLineOverride=YES
AuthUser=mymail@gmail.com
AuthPass=mypass
UseSTARTTLS=YES

I'm probably missing something stupid!

[fbutler]

Sure, here you go:

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root=mymail@gmail.com
mailhub=smtp.gmail.com:587
hostname=raspberrypi
FromLineOverride=YES
AuthUser=mymail@gmail.com
AuthPass=mypass
UseSTARTTLS=YES

I'm probably missing something stupid!

I don't see anything obviously wrong with that config file as long as you are replacing "mymail" and "mypass" with your gmail account username and password. The "Authorization failed (535 5.7.8 {BADCREDENTIALS}" message is saying that your username and password details are not being accepted. Have you logged into your gmail account via webmail recently to check that there are no issues with the account?

[benhewitt97]

Yeah, i can login to webmail just fine... Could this have anything to with my port choice or ISP? I can't find anyone else with the same error. Are there any alternatives to SSMTP? I've tried Exmi4, but couldn't end my messages for some reason.

[fbutler]

Yeah, i can login to webmail just fine... Could this have anything to with my port choice or ISP? I can't find anyone else with the same error. Are there any alternatives to SSMTP? I've tried Exmi4, but couldn't end my messages for some reason.

No, I don't believe so. That error message is coming from gmail which means you are connecting to it OK, and port 587 is the correct port for a SMTP TLS connection. You could try Exim or lots of other programs but you are going to run into the same issue if it is an authentication issue, which it appears to be. Have you got an email account with your ISP that you could try using instead of your Gmail account? If so search their support site for details of the settings for their outgoing SMTP server and try using those in the configuration file instead.

[fbutler]

I've installed ssmtp and mailutils and recreated your setup using my gmail account, and I can send without any issues. However if I change my password to an incorrect password in the ssmtp config file I get exactly the same error message as you. This does suggest there is something incorrect in the login credentials you have configured in the config file.

[bonelifer]

Have you setup a single use pass?

https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/185833?hl=en

[TVpi]

I had the same problem! Do you use spaces in your password? I did, but when I changed my gmail password to something without spaces (and updated the ssmtp.conf accordingly), it worked fine. My guess is mailx doesn't like certain characters when it's parsing that conf file, space being one of them. Hope it works for you!

[benhewitt97]

Hi all!
I just had a go at changing my password, and fixed the problem! Thanks so much! Now to find a way of reguarly compiling and sending a system stats file....

[av2kk]

Hi All,
I too struggled with all the above but finally what made it work for me is adding the following line in the /etc/ssmtp/ssmtp.conf at the end of all the above:
AuthLogin=Yes
Hope this helps some one like me.

[david91]

Hi all!
I just had a go at changing my password, and fixed the problem! Thanks so much! Now to find a way of reguarly compiling and sending a system stats file....

hi, can you please tell me exactly how you resolved the issue? i have tried everything mentioned above but i still fix the problem. thanks for your reply

[edvintide]

Hi, I had a similar problem. For anyone that might be interested, I think Google started blocking my logins from my raspberry pi (maybe something related to non-human usage?).

I solved my problem by creating an app password for my raspberry based on user bonelifer's comment:

Have you setup a single use pass?

https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/185833?hl=en

[Tommmii]

had same issue...after i turned on 2step authentication on the google account...duh.
generated an app password on the google security page, all is well.

[marcosartore]

Hello,
had the same problem, fixed by activating a "less secure" flag inside gmail, visiting this link: https://www.google.com/settings/security/lesssecureapps
Hope this helps,
Marco

[midzu]

@ marcosartore thank you so much . I spent my whole day to find a solution to this problem...
It really works : ).
Midzu.

[chandrasekar]

I have error in command line mail plz kindly help me... [ mail: cannot send message: Process exited with a non-zero status ]

[Yunicx]

I am not a programmer and have been struggling a lot with trying things/settings. I ran into the same problem as the other guys on this page and still nothing helped me.
Since I think the problem was at the end of Google's security policies, I kept digging and tried something like access by a new device or application, which can be found on:
https://accounts.google.com/DisplayUnlockCaptcha
After I enabled it, the emails went out ! In a way that setting didn't make any sense to me, after checking all other settings on google's help pages.

Anyways, I came across another problem that I found on the "https://accounts.google.com/DisplayUnlockCaptcha" page.

When I copy commands from that page to the LXTerminal window, they cannot be executed properly due to an encoding problem.
In the echo "Test text" command, the LXTerminal shows the 66 and 99 apostrophes while they have to be the two double apostrophes.
I'm sorry I can't explain it differently, but make sure they are " symbols and NOT the curved apostrophes. It is so damn sensitive and that's why I'm not a programmer. These things drive me crazy. I just wanted to shout this out to you guys struggling with it like I did

Things are finally working the way they should. Everyone thanks for the tips and advice!

[Slackware]

open Telnet on port 25 and talk directly with email server to see if it is working at all.
but you should have something in the syslog and message log files. An error return should add something in there.

[buzzshot69]

I was having the same problem so i went in to the log and copy the http and googled it. it brought me to a google help sit and told me to Change account access for less secure apps and turn it on, once i did that i could send emails. Also make sure if your Password has Capitals to put the same under e i did that i could send emails. Also make sure if your Password has Capitals to put the same under Authpass the same way.
Hope this helps

[Vivid Haze]

Since I think the problem was at the end of Google's security policies, I kept digging and tried something like access by a new device or application, which can be found on:
https://accounts.google.com/DisplayUnlockCaptcha
After I enabled it, the emails went out

This solved it for me! Many thanks, legend!

[Alle_Melzi]

I had similar problem but I fixed using the User name without the @gmail.com like this:

[boozo]

I've had a similar problem. Do not use the hash symbol in password phrase. Maybe it gets interpreted as comment line.

Also putting quotes around the password did not help!

The solution was to use a password without the special hash character.