creating a simple script to send mail

willc86 · 06-09-2015, 12:24 PM

Hello I am creating a simple mail script (just got into the world of scripting) My goal is to pretty much test if it has been sent out successful. I know I can just check my email, but is there a way to tell the bash script

(logical thinking)
if
"mail has been sent"
echo success!
else
echo did not process
fi

this is my script now

#!/bin/bash

echo "mail is being sent"
echo "...."
echo "...."
echo "...."
echo "...."
echo "...."
mpack -s hello /disk/windex/users/wchaple/testsample.txt sample@yahoo.com
echo "...."
echo "...."
echo "...."
echo "...."
echo "...."
echo "mail has been sent out succesfully"

thank you!

joec@home · 06-09-2015, 12:47 PM

Comments removed by user, see description below:

rtmistler · 06-09-2015, 12:54 PM

Couple of things:

Use [code][/code] tags to illustrate code
MPack is a PHP-based malware kit produced by Russian crackers, so I don't recommend you use that
Per the LQ Rules: "Posts containing information about cracking, piracy, warez, fraud or any topic that could be damaging to either LinuxQuestions.org or any third party will be immediately removed.", and this one seems close. Therefore reported and we'll let a moderator determine that
Check my link for My Bash Blog (see my signature) and there are tips for BASH scripting, one of them is the option to check the return from a system call to evaluate the result.

joec@home · 06-09-2015, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rtmistler

MPack is a PHP-based malware kit produced by Russian crackers, so I don't recommend you use that

Ooops?!?!? I do not want to be giving advice to that!

rtmistler · 06-09-2015, 01:08 PM

The OP seems to be new to Linux, noting that they've said they're new to scripting, and perhaps they found the first thing which worked and also perhaps the program, while having nefarious origins may also have test and/or reasonable use cases. Hence why I said let's allow a moderator to make that judgment. I know there are other ways to generate mail from the command line, such as "sendmail" or just "mail".

TobiSGD · 06-09-2015, 01:34 PM

While a malware name MPack exists, this is not what the OP is referring to. A different (ancient) program named mpack exists which can be used to send mails, see here:
http://linux.maruhn.com/sec/mpack.html
http://linux.die.net/man/1/mpack

suicidaleggroll · 06-09-2015, 04:59 PM

Code:

echo "message" | mail -s "subject" user@domain.com
if [[ $? -eq 0 ]]; then
   echo "Message sent successfully"
else
   echo "Error sending message"
fi

Note that the exit status only tells you whether or not mail was able to submit the message, it says nothing about whether it was actually delivered. A LOT of ISPs block outgoing mail on port 25 for residential customers to cut down on spam, mail's exit status won't tell you if your ISP blocked your message or not.

If your ISP does block it, you'll need to use an external smtp server to send the email. For that I've had a lot of experience with sendemail:
http://caspian.dotconf.net/menu/Software/SendEmail/

It works great, the only drawback is the login and password for the smtp server need to be stored in plain-text.