Sending email from a bat file on a Windows 10 machine

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lchiu7

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#260051 8-Nov-2019 10:44

I spend some time helping a friend with a small office setup. a number of bat files run every night that back up their important to a NAS and the NAS is synchronised to OneDrive It would be good if at the completion of the execution of those bat files an email could be sent to me so I can look at the output from the backups.

Trying to find an easy way for a bat file to send an email. They are a Gmail user and I have not been able to find an easy way to access Google's SMTP server. But their internet connection is provided by spark so I thought to be able to access the spark SMTP server shouldn't I.?

In a previous site I was able to use a little freeware tool called blat and access the exchange server on the internal Network but this little operation doesn't have its own SMTP server.

Any ideas appreciated.

Thanks

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#2350091 8-Nov-2019 10:49

Spark often block outgoing Port 25... can you test with Telnet or similar?

telnet smtpservername 25

For example if I telnet to smtp.gmail.com, I get a response of 220 smtp.gmail.com ESMTP r24sm3965098pgu.36 - gsmtp

I've used and like blat. There are alternatives as well.

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SirHumphreyAppleby

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#2350093 8-Nov-2019 10:53

I maintain CMail so naturally I would recommend that as an alternative to Blat. Blat unfortunately does not support SSL, which is required for sending via Google and many other services. You can use Blat with a third party SSL tool, but you're limited to sending via SMTPS, which is considered deprecated.

To use GMail servers, you will need to authenticate, which usually involves allowing less secure applications in your Google account (don't worry, these are still secure), or application passwords. You should also be sending via the message submission port, 587.

Note, if you setup your own server, you need to setup SPF, DKIM and ensure your ISP isn't blocking port 25. It's a lot more work than is necessary just to send mail form a batch file.

You can also use PowerShell to send messages without any third party software installed.

elpenguino

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#2350095 8-Nov-2019 10:57

If you've got Office on the machine you should be able to script it up to send an email easily enough. I do a similar thing from Access.

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MurrayM

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#2350096 8-Nov-2019 10:57

I was going to suggest using Blat. I used it many years ago and found it worked fine.

Spyware

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#2350100 8-Nov-2019 11:03

Run Postfix on an RPi to relay to Spark.

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tchart

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#2350103 8-Nov-2019 11:07

I usually just use Gmails SMTP servers. You do need to configure the account to use it though.

I use the following code in PowerShell to send an email via Gmail;

function Send-ToEmail([string]$email, [string]$subject, [string]$body)
{
try
{
$message = new-object Net.Mail.MailMessage
$message.From = "XYZ@gmail.com"
$message.ReplyTo = "XYZ@gmail.com"
$message.To.Add($email)
$message.Subject = $subject
$message.Body = $body

$smtp = new-object Net.Mail.SmtpClient("smtp.gmail.com", "587")
$smtp.EnableSSL = $true;
$smtp.Credentials = New-Object System.Net.NetworkCredential("XYZ@gmail.com", "PASSWORDGOESHERE");

$smtp.send($message)

$result = $true
}
catch
{
$result = $false
}

return $result
}

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SirHumphreyAppleby

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#2350106 8-Nov-2019 11:11

Spyware:

Run Postfix on an RPi to relay to Spark.

There is no real benefit running an SMTP server delivering to a smart host over having the client deliver to the smart host directly. The biggest drawback with running a server is if mail delivery fails, you may not know about it for a long time. If your batch file handles this directly, it can take appropriate action when failures occur.

davidcole

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#2350115 8-Nov-2019 12:06

Yeah I had a powershell that would send via gmail. But with a local smtp server you can do it without requiring smtp authentication.

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fearandloathing

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#2350132 8-Nov-2019 12:54

Send-MailMessage is native to PowerShell

$mycredentials = Get-Credential
#$MailServer="your-domain-co-nz.mail.protection.outlook.com"
$MailServer="smtp.office365.com"
#From Address, does not need to be actual mailbox
$Sender="hello.there@your-domain.co.nz"
#Recipients
#$Recipient=@("hello.there@your-domain.co.nz")
$Recipient=@("hello.there@your-domain.co.nz","hello.there2@your-domain.co.nz")

Send-MailMessage -From $Sender -To $Recipient -Subject "Testing sending attachment 21" `
-SmtpServer $MailServer -Body "this message should include an attachment" -Credential $mycredentials -UseSsl

<#
-Attachments .\test.txt
-Priority High
#>

lchiu7

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#2350226 8-Nov-2019 13:56

Thanks all. Powershell looks like the way to go. But I'm not experienced in Powershell. The function that tchart documents looks good but I'm entirely sure how to call it. So I create the script as a standalone script that I can call say from a bat file ? The bat file would be doing all my copying etc.

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lchiu7

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#2350452 8-Nov-2019 20:21

tchart:

I usually just use Gmails SMTP servers. You do need to configure the account to use it though.

I use the following code in PowerShell to send an email via Gmail;

function Send-ToEmail([string]$email, [string]$subject, [string]$body)
{
try
{
$message = new-object Net.Mail.MailMessage
$message.From = "XYZ@gmail.com"
$message.ReplyTo = "XYZ@gmail.com"
$message.To.Add($email)
$message.Subject = $subject
$message.Body = $body

$smtp = new-object Net.Mail.SmtpClient("smtp.gmail.com", "587")
$smtp.EnableSSL = $true;
$smtp.Credentials = New-Object System.Net.NetworkCredential("XYZ@gmail.com", "PASSWORDGOESHERE");

$smtp.send($message)

$result = $true
}
catch
{
$result = $false
}

return $result
}

OK this one looked like a great example. I replaced all the fields with my own, the SMTP server not Gmail but my own domain's one on port 465. The SMTP server requires authentication and I am sure I put in the right email address and password (checked it several times)

But whenever I run the script it always returns false and no mail is sent.

I just invoked the script in the Powershell script by having

Send-ToEmail("send to address", "subject line", "some random text in the body")

Not entirely sure what to do now or how to even debug this.

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davidcole

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#2350497 8-Nov-2019 22:39

Take out the try and catch lines while you’re figuring it out. As it’s getting an error somewhere, but the try catch is hiding it from you.

lchiu7

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#2350506 8-Nov-2019 23:52

Well persistence and I made progress. Found a script like that I was able to use

$EmailFrom = "xxxx@outlook.com"

$EmailTo = "yyyy@gmail.com"

$Subject = "Test from O365 SMTP "

$Body = "Test from O365 SMTP Authentication"

$SMTPServer = "smtp.office365.com"

$SMTPClient = New-Object Net.Mail.SmtpClient($SmtpServer, 587)

$SMTPClient.EnableSsl = $true

$SMTPClient.Credentials = New-Object System.Net.NetworkCredential("user@outlook.com", "password");

$SMTPClient.Send($EmailTo, $EmailFrom, $Subject, $Subject)

That seemed to work but for the machine I was using I had to alter the Powershell execution policies.

Next step is to try to work out how to attach files.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

ANglEAUT

altered-ego
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#2350515 9-Nov-2019 03:51

lchiu7:

tchart:

I usually just use Gmails SMTP servers. You do need to configure the account to use it though. ...

... The SMTP server requires authentication and I am sure I put in the right email address and password (checked it several times) ...

Enable less secure apps in the Google / Outlook.com account if you have 2FA enabled.

Please keep this GZ community vibrant by contributing in a constructive & respectful manner.

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altered-ego
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#2350516 9-Nov-2019 04:04

lchiu7:

... Next step is to try to work out how to attach files.

As fearandloathing said, the Send-MailMessage cmdlet is supported natively in PowerShell and has the -Attachments parameter for exactly this purpose.

Or you can have Stack Overflow tell you (9 years ago).

Please keep this GZ community vibrant by contributing in a constructive & respectful manner.

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