How to send an e-mail from within a linux application

samble · 02-19-2004, 05:20 PM

I am running Red Hat Linux 7.3 on my server. The linux kernel is "2.4.18-5". I have an application running on this server. Whenever the server is rebooted I would like to send an e-mail out to an administrator from within this application. I have tried the following piece of code to be convinced about the possibility but to no avail. Would any knowledgeable source help me out here?

The sample code is:

int main (void)
{

execl ("/bin/mail", "/bin/mail", "-s Test", "joe@yourtown.com < /tmp/relInfo.c", (char *)0);

}

When I cmpile the above code and execute then ti prompts me for "Message body", "Cc", and then it complains that "/tmp/relInfo.c" cannot be found.

When I execute the command "mail -s Test joe@yourtown.com < /tmp/relInfo.c" the mail is sent out without any problem.

Thanks in advance for all helpful suggestions

Srini

PSIplus · 02-20-2004, 03:03 AM

Hmmm... Try it this way:

Code:

spid=fork();
if(!spid)
{
	stdin=freopen("/path/to/your/email.txt","r",stdin);
	stdout=freopen("/dev/null","w+",stdout);
	stderr=freopen("/dev/null","w+",stderr);
	execlp("/usr/sbin/sendmail","/usr/sbin/sendmail","target@mail.addr",NULL);
}

First of all: Pipelining with >, < and | is Shell-Style, e.g. you cann't use it directly from within an c app :-)

And: You have to specify each parameter it's own value when you use execlp

If you want to redirect from within a c app, use freopen (as seen above).

Have Fun!
Martin

samble · 02-20-2004, 07:09 AM

Martin,

Thank you very much for taking time to read my novice question and posting a suggestion that worked very well for me.

Kind regards

Srini