Gmail As Relay On Ubuntu

tags: mail gmail ubuntu postfix relay

	WARNING
	This is recommended only for advanced users, proceed with caution.

This can be used to send mails from your HDA and to receive system emails.
To receive emails meant for the root user, you have to Forward System Emails after finishing this tutorial. Recommend you do not use copy and paste as there are hidden special characters that sometimes cause issues.

Install postfix and remove sendmail:

bash code
​sudo apt-get -y install postfix mailutils libsasl2-2 ca-certificates libsasl2-modules​

NOTE: During install of postfix, a popup box may display. If it does, select OK and then Internet. Add your domain name (i.e. home.com) and then select OK.

Add the following to the bottom of /etc/postfix/main.cf:

Text
​relayhost = [smtp.gmail.com]:587 smtp_sasl_auth_enable = yes smtp_sasl_password_maps = hash:/etc/postfix/sasl_passwd smtp_sasl_security_options = noanonymous smtp_tls_CAfile = /etc/postfix/cacert.pem smtp_use_tls = yes​

Create /etc/postfix/sasl_passwd file with your Gmail login credentials as shown below:

Text
​[smtp.gmail.com]:587 user.name@gmail.com:password​

Obviously, you need to change user to your username and password to your gmail password.

Create the password database:

bash code
​sudo postmap hash:/etc/postfix/sasl_passwd​

Protect the files with your Gmail login data:

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​sudo chown root:root /etc/postfix/sasl_passwd sudo chmod 600 /etc/postfix/sasl_passwd​

Validating the certificate:

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​cat /etc/ssl/certs/Thawte_Premium_Server_CA.pem | sudo tee -a /etc/postfix/cacert.pem​

Restart Postfix:

bash code
​sudo /etc/init.d/postfix restart​

Now try sending a mail, it should reach your Gmail account (change user to match your account name):

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​echo "This is Content" | sudo mail -s "This is subject" user@gmail.com​

Check the mail log:

bash code
​tail -f /var/log/mail.log​

If all goes well, you should not see any errors. When you check your account, it is possible the email will appear as SPAM. Be sure to check that folder for it.

Reference: Postfix + Gmail SMTP server relay in Ubuntu