[SOLVED] [mail command] cannot send message

thomasbb · 02-22-2021, 07:20 AM

To automatically update my computer, I made this script:

Code:

#!/bin/bash
apt-get update &> /tmp/apt-list.log
apt-get upgrade -Ryq > /tmp/apt-info.log 2> /tmp/apt-error.log
if [ $? -eq 0 ] ; then
    aptitude clean
    mail -s "[Maintenance] Update done" e@mail.com <<< "Updated"
else
    cat /tmp/apt-error.log | mail -s "[Maintenance] Update failed" e@mail.com
fi

but it returns

Code:

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

and error code is

Code:

$ echo $?
36

Any idea?

shruggy · 02-22-2021, 07:34 AM

1) Please provide the output of

Code:

aptitude show '~i~Pmail-transport-agent'|sed '/^Desc/Q'
update-alternatives --display mailx

2) Does sending an email from the command line work?

thomasbb · 02-22-2021, 09:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shruggy

2) Does sending an email from the command line work?

No, it doesn't work already. The command

Code:

mail -s "[Maintenance] Update done" e@mail.com <<< "Updated"

already fails with error code 36

shruggy · 02-22-2021, 09:21 AM

So how about the first question?

thomasbb · 02-22-2021, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shruggy

So how about the first question?

Actually, I had prepared the answer and when I saw the second one was failing, I though it was more important... When I'm back on the right computer, I'll post it

thomasbb · 02-23-2021, 01:16 AM

So, the command aptitude show '~i~Pmail-transport-agent'|sed '/^Desc/Q' returns

Code:

Package: ssmtp
Version: 2.64-8.1ubuntu1
State: installed
Automatically installed: no
Priority: extra
Section: universe/mail
Maintainer: Ubuntu Developers <ubuntu-devel-discuss@lists.ubuntu.com>
Architecture: amd64
Uncompressed Size: 2048 
Depends: libc6 (>= 2.14), libgnutls-openssl27 (>= 3.6.11-0), debconf | debconf-2.0
Conflicts: mail-transport-agent, mail-transport-agent:i386
Replaces: mail-transport-agent, mail-transport-agent:i386
Provides: mail-transport-agent

and the command update-alternatives --display mailx returns

Code:

mailx - auto mode
  link best version is /usr/bin/mail.mailutils
  link currently points to /usr/bin/mail.mailutils
  link mailx is /usr/bin/mailx
  slave mail is /usr/bin/mail
  slave mail.1.gz is /usr/share/man/man1/mail.1.gz
  slave mailx.1.gz is /usr/share/man/man1/mailx.1.gz
/usr/bin/mail.mailutils - priority 30
  slave mail: /usr/bin/mail.mailutils
  slave mail.1.gz: /usr/share/man/man1/mail.mailutils.1.gz
  slave mailx.1.gz: /usr/share/man/man1/mail.mailutils.1.gz

The script is from a magazine from 2006, maybe some parts are outdated. Since the article is for neebies, I would expect that default configurations at that time aren't valid nowadays because there is no particular warning about the command mail usage

shruggy · 02-23-2021, 04:33 AM

ssmtp logs errors to /var/log/mail.log and /var/log/mail.err under the handle sSMTP. Check those files, especially the latter.
Check the ssmtp configuration. The things you have to set in /etc/ssmtp/ssmtp.conf are at least mailhub, and probably also root, UseSTARTTLS or UseTLS, and TLS_CA_File or TLS_CA_Dir.

Start with
Code:
```
sudo dpkg-reconfigure ssmtp
```
This can set root, mailhub, rewriteDomain, hostname, and FromLineOverride. For other settings, you'll have to edit /etc/ssmtp/ssmtp.conf in a text editor.

thomasbb · 02-23-2021, 08:37 AM

Obviously, the author expected the reader to do some extra homework... It's moving forward, now the file /var/log/mail.log has

Code:

date hostname sSMTP[number]: Creating SSL connection to host
date hostname sSMTP[number]: Connection lost in middle of processing

and the file /var/log/mail.err has only

Code:

date hostname sSMTP[number]: Connection lost in middle of processing

The command sendmail has the same behavior and they don't prompt for a username or a password. Once ran, neither C-d or C-c stop the command. The shortcut C-z does, but then the process needs a kill -9 afterwards.
In my /etc/ssmtp/ssmtp.conf, I didn't set the AuthUser and AuthPass variables, but if I do the same happens so I removed the lines

shruggy · 02-23-2021, 11:36 AM

The message Connection lost in middle of processing comes pretty early on, even before the SMTP connection is open. Are you sure the mailhost and the port specified in the mailhub line of ssmtp.conf are correct?

At this point, I'd start testing the connection using swaks, smtpping, openssl s_client, or the good ol' telnet. E.g.

Code:

smtpping -c1 e@mail.com

If you don't know the exact name of your SMTP server, try something like

Code:

nslookup -type=mx gmail.com

Replace gmail.com with the domain name of your mail provider. Even better, contact them and ask what server name, port and authentication protocol you should use.

thomasbb · 02-24-2021, 06:34 AM

The configuration I set for mailhub in ssmtp.conf is the setting I use in Thunderbird, that is an smtp name and a port: smtp.uni.org:487 (but I have no idea if this is what I'm supposed to use for the ssmtp command)

The command smtpping -c1 e@ mail.com returns:

Code:

$ smtpping -c1 e@mail.com
PING e@ mail.com ([my.ip]:25): 10316 bytes (SMTP DATA)
seq=1, connect=0.95 ms, helo=156.74 ms, mailfrom=158.15 ms, rcptto=159.61 ms, datasent=341.27 ms, quit=342.65 ms

--- my.ip SMTP ping statistics ---
1 e-mail messages transmitted
connect min/avg/max = 0.95/0.95/0.95 ms
banner min/avg/max = 154.01/154.01/154.01 ms
helo min/avg/max = 156.74/156.74/156.74 ms
mailfrom min/avg/max = 158.15/158.15/158.15 ms
rcptto min/avg/max = 159.61/159.61/159.61 ms
data min/avg/max = 160.41/160.41/160.41 ms
datasent min/avg/max = 341.27/341.27/341.27 ms
quit min/avg/max = 342.65/342.65/342.65 ms

and the command nslookup -type=mx my.uni.maildomain returns

Code:

$ nslookup -type=mx my.uni.maildomain
Server:		127.0.0.53
Address:	127.0.0.53#53

Non-authoritative answer:
univ-cotedazur.fr	mail exchanger = 20 namedomain2.
univ-cotedazur.fr	mail exchanger = 10 namedomain1.

Authoritative answers can be found from:

Just in case, I asked the admins if the configuration in /etc/ssmtp/ssmtp.conf and /etc/ssmtp/revaliases is fine. As soon as they answer, I'll let you know

thomasbb · 02-24-2021, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shruggy

Even better, contact them and ask what server name, port and authentication protocol you should use.

The configuration I was using yesterday goes just perfect today. Knowing myself, I must have made a typo somewhere...

Now script #2 in my magazine: backup of a mySql data base. If I had read it first, I would have known that mail was left to me to configure.

Thank you very much for your help

---

EDIT: in case someone falls on the same magazine...

File /etc/ssmtp/ssmtp.conf takes

Code:

root=your.email@your.uni.org # the email address that sends the message
mailhub=smtp.your.uni.org:your_port_number # port 25, 487, ...
hostname=the_hostname_of_your_PC # the name of the workstation
FromLineOverride=YES
AuthUser=your_login # the login you use to access your mailbox
AuthPass=your_password # the password you use to access your mailbox
UseSTARTTLS=YES # no idea what it is
UseTLS=Yes # no idea neither

and file /etc/ssmtp/revaliases takes

Code:

your_login:your.email@your.uni.org:smtp.your.uni.org:your_port_number # otherwise it tries to send the mail from your_login@the_hostname_of_your_PC

shruggy · 02-24-2021, 07:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thomasbb

smtp.uni.org:487

The port 487 is unusual, I'd rather expect 587 here instead. But ultimately, admins can assign any vacant port they wish, of course.

thomasbb · 02-24-2021, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shruggy

The port 487 is unusual, I'd rather expect 587 here instead. But ultimately, admins can assign any vacant port they will, of course.

Indeed, it's 587 in my case. The automatic email works great now