If you're looking to send emails from your Ubuntu system using a GMail account, here's a straightforward method using Postfix. Follow these steps to set it up:
Prerequisites:
Ensure you have an application password for your GMail account.
On Ubuntu:
1. Install the necessary software:
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install postfix mailutils libsasl2-2 ca-certificates libsasl2-modules
2. Edit or add the following lines in the file /etc/postfix/main.cf:
relayhost = [smtp.gmail.com]:587
smtp_tls_security_level=encrypt
smtp_sasl_auth_enable = yes
smtp_sasl_password_maps = hash:/etc/postfix/sasl_passwd
smtp_sasl_security_options = noanonymous
smtp_use_tls = yes
3. Add your GMail account and app password to /etc/postfix/sasl_passwd:
[smtp.gmail.com]:587 [email protected]:YOUR_APP_PASSWORD
4. Set permissions:
$ sudo chmod 400 /etc/postfix/sasl_passwd
5. Generate the password file to create /etc/postfix/sasl_passwd.db:
$ sudo postmap /etc/postfix/sasl_passwd
6. Check and restart Postfix:
$ sudo postfix check
$ sudo systemctl restart postfix
$ sudo systemctl status postfix
7. Test the setup:
$ echo "Hello World" | mail -s "Email from Ubuntu using GMail" [email protected]
$ tail /var/log/mail.log
That's it! You should now be able to send emails from your Ubuntu system using your GMail account through Postfix.