* Mode: Mail Mode. Special commands for editing mail being composed.
* Amuse: Mail Amusements. Distracting the NSA; adding fortune messages.
* Methods: Mail Methods. Using alternative mail-composition methods.
-* SMTP: Sending via SMTP. Sending mail via SMTP.
@end menu
@node Mail Format
a particular message, Emacs asks you to select the coding system to use,
showing a list of possible coding systems.
+@cindex SMTP
+@cindex Feedmail
+@cindex Sendmail
+@vindex send-mail-function
+ The variable @code{send-mail-function} controls how the default mail
+user agent sends mail. It should be set to a function. The default
+is @code{sendmail-send-it}, which delivers mail using the Sendmail
+installation on the local host. To send mail through a SMTP server,
+set it to @code{smtpmail-send-it} and set up the Emacs SMTP library
+(@pxref{Sending mail via SMTP,,,smtpmail}). A third option is
+@code{feedmail-send-it}, see the commentary section of the
+@file{feedmail.el} package for more information.
+
@node Header Editing
@subsection Mail Header Editing
in this chapter about the @samp{*mail*} buffer and Mail mode does not
apply; the other methods use a different format of text in a different
buffer, and their commands are different as well.
-
-@node Sending via SMTP
-@section Sending via SMTP
-@cindex SMTP
-
- On the Internet, mail is sent from host to host using the simple
-mail transfer protocol (SMTP). When you read and write mail you are
-using a mail program that does not use SMTP -- it just reads mails
-from files. This is called a mail user agent (MUA). The mail
-transfer agent (MTA) is the program that accepts mails via SMTP and
-stores them in files. You also need a mail transfer agent when you
-send mails. Your mail program has to send its mail to a MTA that can
-pass it on using SMTP.
-
- Emacs includes a package for sending your mail to a SMTP server and
-have it take care of delivering it to the final destination, rather
-than letting the MTA on your local system take care of it. This can
-be useful if you don't have a MTA set up on your host, or if your
-machine is often disconnected from the Internet.
-
- Sending mail via SMTP requires configuring your mail user agent
-(@pxref{Mail Methods}) to use the SMTP library. How to do this should
-be described for each mail user agent; for the Message and Gnus user
-agents the variable @code{message-send-mail-function} (@pxref{Mail
-Variables,,,message}) is used.
-
-@vindex send-mail-function
- The variable @code{send-mail-function} controls how the default mail
-user agent sends mail. It should be set to a function. The default
-is @code{sendmail-send-it}, but must be set to @code{smtpmail-send-it}
-in order to use the SMTP library. @code{feedmail-send-it} is another
-option.
-
- Before using SMTP you must find out the hostname of the SMTP server
-to use. Your system administrator should provide you with this
-information, but often it is the same as the server you receive mail
-from.
-
-@vindex smtpmail-smtp-server
- The variable @code{smtpmail-smtp-server} controls the hostname of
-the server to use. It is a string with an IP address or hostname. It
-defaults to the contents of the @code{SMTPSERVER} environment
-variable, or, if empty, the contents of
-@code{smtpmail-default-smtp-server}.
-
-@vindex smtpmail-default-smtp-server
- The variable @code{smtpmail-default-smtp-server} controls the
-default hostname of the server to use. It is a string with an IP
-address or hostname. It must be set before the SMTP library is
-loaded. It has no effect if set after the SMTP library has been
-loaded, or if @code{smtpmail-smtp-server} is defined. It is usually
-set by system administrators in a site wide initialization file.
-
-@cindex Mail Submission
-SMTP is normally used on the registered ``smtp'' TCP service port 25.
-Some environments use SMTP in ``Mail Submission'' mode, which uses
-port 587. Using other ports is not uncommon, either for security by
-obscurity purposes, port forwarding, or otherwise.
-
-@vindex smtpmail-smtp-service
- The variable @code{smtpmail-smtp-service} controls the port on the
-server to contact. It is either a string, in which case it will be
-translated into an integer using system calls, or an integer.
-
-Many environments require SMTP clients to authenticate themselves
-before they are allowed to route mail via a server. The two following
-variables contains the authentication information needed for this.
-The first variable, @code{smtpmail-auth-credentials}, instructs the
-SMTP library to use a SASL authentication step, currently only the
-CRAM-MD5, PLAIN and LOGIN-MD5 mechanisms are supported and will be
-selected in that order if the server supports them. The second
-variable, @code{smtpmail-starttls-credentials}, instructs the SMTP
-library to connect to the server using STARTTLS. This means the
-protocol exchange can be integrity protected and confidential by using
-TLS, and optionally also authentication of the client. It is common
-to use both these mechanisms, e.g. to use STARTTLS to achieve
-integrity and confidentiality and then use SASL for client
-authentication.
-
-@vindex smtpmail-auth-credentials
- The variable @code{smtpmail-auth-credentials} contains a list of
-hostname, port, username and password tuples. When the SMTP library
-connects to a host on a certain port, this variable is searched to
-find a matching entry for that hostname and port. If an entry is
-found, the authentication process is invoked and the credentials are
-used. The hostname field follows the same format as
-@code{smtpmail-smtp-server} (i.e., a string) and the port field the
-same format as @code{smtpmail-smtp-service} (i.e., a string or an
-integer). The username and password fields, which either can be
-@samp{nil} to indicate that the user is queried for the value
-interactively, should be strings with the username and password,
-respectively, information that is normally provided by system
-administrators.
-
-@vindex smtpmail-starttls-credentials
- The variable @code{smtpmail-starttls-credentials} contains a list of
-tuples with hostname, port, name of file containing client key, and
-name of file containing client certificate. The processing is similar
-to the previous variable. The client key and certificate may be
-@samp{nil} if you do not wish to use client authentication. The use
-of this variable requires the @samp{starttls} external program to be
-installed, you can get it from
-@samp{ftp://ftp.opaopa.org/pub/elisp/starttls-*.tar.gz}.
-
-The remaining variables are more esoteric and is normally not needed.
-
-@vindex smtpmail-debug-info
- The variable @code{smtpmail-debug-info} controls whether to print
-the SMTP protocol exchange in the minibuffer, and retain the entire
-exchange in a buffer @samp{*trace of SMTP session to
-mail.example.org*}.
-
-@vindex smtpmail-debug-verb
- The variable @code{smtpmail-debug-verb} controls whether to send the
-VERB token to the server. The VERB server instructs the server to be
-more verbose, and often also to attempt final delivery while your SMTP
-session is still running. It is usually only useful together with
-@code{smtpmail-debug-info}. Note that this may cause mail delivery to
-take considerable time if the final destination cannot accept mail.
-
-@vindex smtpmail-local-domain
- The variable @code{smtpmail-local-domain} controls the hostname sent
-in the first EHLO or HELO command sent to the server. It should only
-be set if the @code{system-name} function returns a name that isn't
-accepted by the server. Do not set this variable unless your server
-complains.
-
-@vindex smtpmail-sendto-domain
- The variable @code{smtpmail-sendto-domain} makes the SMTP library
-add @samp{@@} and the specified value to recipients specified in the
-message when they are sent using the RCPT TO command. Some
-configurations of sendmail requires this behaviour. Don't bother to
-set this unless you have get an error like:
-
-@example
- Sending failed; SMTP protocol error
-@end example
-
-when sending mail, and the *trace of SMTP session to <somewhere>*
-buffer (enabled via @code{smtpmail-debug-info}) includes an exchange
-like:
-
-@example
- RCPT TO: <someone>
- 501 <someone>: recipient address must contain a domain
-@end example
-
-@vindex smtpmail-queue-mail
- The variable @code{smtpmail-queue-mail} controls whether a simple
-off line mail sender is active. This variable is a boolean, and
-defaults to @samp{nil} (disabled). If this is non-nil, mail is not
-sent immediately but rather queued in the directory
-@code{smtpmail-queue-dir} and can be later sent manually by invoking
-@code{smtpmail-send-queued-mail} (typically when you connect to the
-Internet).
-
-@vindex smtpmail-queue-dir
- The variable @code{smtpmail-queue-dir} specifies the name of the
-directory to hold queued messages. It defaults to
-@samp{~/Mail/queued-mail/}.
-
-@findex smtpmail-send-queued-mail
- The function @code{smtpmail-send-queued-mail} can be used to send
-any queued mail when @code{smtpmail-queue-mail} is enabled. It is
-typically invoked interactively with @kbd{M-x RET
-smtpmail-send-queued-mail RET} when you are connected to the Internet.