How can I send email using Python?

Question

I am writing a program that sends an email using Python. What I have learned from various forums is the following piece of code:

#!/usr/bin/env python
import smtplib
sender = "[email protected]"
receivers = ["[email protected]"]
yourname = "Abhishek Sagar"
recvname = "receptionist"
sub = "Testing email"
body = "who cares"
message = "From: " + yourname + "\n" 
message = message + "To: " + recvname + "\n"
message = message + "Subject: " + sub + "\n" 
message = message + body
try:
    print "Sending email to " + recvname + "...",
    server = smtplib.SMTP('smtp.gmail.com:587')
    username = '[email protected]'  
    password = '*****'  
    server.ehlo()
    server.starttls()  
    server.login(username,password)  
    server.sendmail(sender, receivers, message)         
    server.quit()
    print "successfully sent!"
except  Exception:
    print "Error: unable to send email"

But it is simply printing ""Error: unable to send email" and exits out on the terminal. How might I resolve this?

I modified the last two lines to

except Exception, error:
    print "Unable to send e-mail: '%s'." % str(error)

I get the following error message :

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "./2.py", line 45, in <module>
    smtpObj = smtplib.SMTP('localhost')
  File "/usr/lib/python2.6/smtplib.py", line 239, in __init__
    (code, msg) = self.connect(host, port)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.6/smtplib.py", line 295, in connect
    self.sock = self._get_socket(host, port, self.timeout)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.6/smtplib.py", line 273, in _get_socket
    return socket.create_connection((port, host), timeout)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.6/socket.py", line 514, in create_connection
    raise error, msg
socket.error: [Errno 111] Connection refused

I see you're new to stackoverflow, welcome! Make sure you use the editing help to properly format your posts. This helps us read your question more easily and increases your chances of getting an answer. — André Caron
– André Caron, Commented Feb 14, 2012 at 5:43

jfs · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-09 02:14:18Z

16

If message headers, payload contain non-ascii characters then they should be encoded:

#!/usr/bin/env python
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
from email.header    import Header
from email.mime.text import MIMEText
from getpass         import getpass
from smtplib         import SMTP_SSL


login, password = '[email protected]', getpass('Gmail password:')
recipients = [login]

# create message
msg = MIMEText('message body…', 'plain', 'utf-8')
msg['Subject'] = Header('subject…', 'utf-8')
msg['From'] = login
msg['To'] = ", ".join(recipients)

# send it via gmail
s = SMTP_SSL('smtp.gmail.com', 465, timeout=10)
s.set_debuglevel(1)
try:
    s.login(login, password)
    s.sendmail(msg['From'], recipients, msg.as_string())
finally:
    s.quit()

edited Mar 9, 2014 at 2:14

answered Feb 14, 2012 at 9:22

jfs

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2 Comments

jprockbelly Over a year ago

Gmail is now pretty tight with what devices can sign in to the account. If, like me, you have issues using code like this on a remote machine you can try logging into gmail account and checking the "Allow less secure apps" option. There are also tools to authorize specific apps

jfs Over a year ago

@jprockbelly: don't compromise security. It works even on the account with 2-step verification. Just generate an app password for your script.

André Caron · Accepted Answer · 2012-02-14 06:11:20Z

6

If you print the error message, you will likely get a comprehensive description of what error occurred. Try (no pun intended) this:

try:
    # ...
except Exception, error:
    print "Unable to send e-mail: '%s'." % str(error)

If, after reading the error message, you still do not understand your error, please update your question with the error message and we can help you some more.

Update after additional information:

the error message

socket.error: [Errno 111] Connection refused

means the remote end (e.g. the GMail SMTP server) is refusing the network connection. If you take a look at the smtplib.SMTP constructor, it seems you should change

server = smtplib.SMTP('smtp.gmail.com:587')

to the following.

server = smtplib.SMTP(host='smtp.gmail.com', port=587)

edited Feb 14, 2012 at 6:11

answered Feb 14, 2012 at 5:45

André Caron

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3 Comments

Abhishek Sagar Over a year ago

after doing what you said , i get the following error : Sending email to receptionist... Unable to send e-mail: '[Errno 110] Connection timed out' . i am behind the proxy , so do i need to add something extra to the code.

André Caron Over a year ago

@AbhishekSagar: SMTP configuration is a complex topic. Perhaps you can try one of the alternate ports? See configuring other email clients in the GMail frequently asked questions.

Abhishek Sagar Over a year ago

yes, i install postfix , and gave up the idea when i searched Configuring the SMTP ! its really complex.

Will Cheng · Accepted Answer · 2012-02-14 06:15:04Z

0

According to the error message, you use the localhost as the SMTP server, then the connection was refused. Your localhost didn't have an SMTP sever running I guess, you need to make sure the SMTP server you connect is valid.

answered Feb 14, 2012 at 6:15

Will Cheng

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