Java Mail Authentication

[Meet Gaurav]

While I was goggling I got the below link and that says "Username and password is generally not needed to send e-mail although your ISP may still require it to prevent spam from going through its systems."

http://www.vipan.com/htdocs/javamail.html

While I was trying without username and password am getting below exception. Please assist me how to send mail with out username and password

java.net.ConnectException: Connection timed out (errno:238)
at com.sun.mail.smtp.SMTPTransport.openServer(SMTPTransport.java:1391)
at com.sun.mail.smtp.SMTPTransport.protocolConnect(SMTPTransport.java:412)
at javax.mail.Service.connect(Service.java:288)
at javax.mail.Service.connect(Service.java:169)
at javax.mail.Service.connect(Service.java:118)
at com.iflex.pdfmailutilities.mail.EmailSender.sendEmail(EmailSender.java:140)
at com.iflex.pdfmailutilities.mail.EmailSender.sendMail(EmailSender.java:179)
at com.iflex.pdfmailutilities.mail.EmailSender.main(EmailSender.java:164)
Caused by: java.net.ConnectException: Connection timed out (errno:238)
at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.socketConnect(Native Method)
at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.doConnect(PlainSocketImpl.java:305)
at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.connectToAddress(PlainSocketImpl.java:171)
at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.connect(PlainSocketImpl.java:158)
at java.net.Socket.connect(Socket.java:462)
at java.net.Socket.connect(Socket.java:412)
at com.sun.mail.util.SocketFetcher.createSocket(SocketFetcher.java:233)
at com.sun.mail.util.SocketFetcher.getSocket(SocketFetcher.java:189)
at com.sun.mail.smtp.SMTPTransport.openServer(SMTPTransport.java:1359)

[Ulf Dittmer]

"Username and password is generally not needed to send e-mail although your ISP may still require it to prevent spam from going through its systems."

That was true in the days of dial-up, where the ISP's mail server knew that the client was an authenticated user. These days -with connections made over TCP/IP from potentially anywhere- authentication is almost always required.

But the error message sounds more like a general connection problem than something related to authentictaion. Can you telnet to port 25 of the SMTP server?

[Meet Gaurav]

I got this code using the link earlier I possted. But this never used userid and password. Is there any other way to connect to SMTP with out userid and password

  
import java.util.*;
import javax.mail.*;
import javax.mail.internet.*;
import javax.activation.*;

// Send a simple, single part, text/plain e-mail
public class TestEmail {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        // SUBSTITUTE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESSES HERE!!!
        String to = "[e-mail]";
        String from = "[e-mail]";
        // SUBSTITUTE YOUR ISP'S MAIL SERVER HERE!!!
        String host = "smtp.yourisp.net";

        // Create properties, get Session
        Properties props = new Properties();

        // If using static Transport.send(),
        // need to specify which host to send it to
        props.put("mail.smtp.host", host);
        // To see what is going on behind the scene
        props.put("mail.debug", "true");
        Session session = Session.getInstance(props);

        try {
            // Instantiatee a message
            Message msg = new MimeMessage(session);

            //Set message attributes
            msg.setFrom(new InternetAddress(from));
            InternetAddress[] address = {new InternetAddress(to)};
            msg.setRecipients(Message.RecipientType.TO, address);
            msg.setSubject("Test E-Mail through Java");
            msg.setSentDate(new Date());

            // Set message content
            msg.setText("This is a test of sending a " +
                        "plain text e-mail through Java.\n" +
                        "Here is line 2.");

            //Send the message
            Transport.send(msg);
        }
        catch (MessagingException mex) {
            // Prints all nested (chained) exceptions as well
            mex.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}//End of class
  

[Ulf Dittmer]

Times have changed; you need to get used to using authentication with SMTP. The JavaMail tutorial linked from the JavaRanch JEE FAQ has code samples for that.

[Meet Gaurav]

How to identify whether the STMP server requires authentication or not. I heard some open SMTP servers are there and they dont require any user id and password for sending email.

[Ulf Dittmer]

No reputable ISP or hosting company runs open SMTP relays any more these day. They'd be blacklisted everywhere fast.

The error message you get when trying to connect to an SMTP without authentication will indicate that it is an authentication problem; so that's a clue :-)

[Meet Gaurav]

But when I tried with the same program with authentication I mean simply pass the user id and password to connect and its working fine. If i tried to connect directly without userid and password am getting this below exception. Don't know wats happening

java.net.ConnectException: Connection timed out (errno:238)
at com.sun.mail.smtp.SMTPTransport.openServer(SMTPTransport.java:1391)
at com.sun.mail.smtp.SMTPTransport.protocolConnect(SMTPTransport.java:412)
at javax.mail.Service.connect(Service.java:288)
at javax.mail.Service.connect(Service.java:169)
at javax.mail.Service.connect(Service.java:118)
at com.iflex.pdfmailutilities.mail.EmailSender.sendEmail(EmailSender.java:140)
at com.iflex.pdfmailutilities.mail.EmailSender.sendMail(EmailSender.java:179)
at com.iflex.pdfmailutilities.mail.EmailSender.main(EmailSender.java:164)
Caused by: java.net.ConnectException: Connection timed out (errno:238)
at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.socketConnect(Native Method)
at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.doConnect(PlainSocketImpl.java:305)
at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.connectToAddress(PlainSocketImpl.java:171)
at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.connect(PlainSocketImpl.java:158)
at java.net.Socket.connect(Socket.java:462)
at java.net.Socket.connect(Socket.java:412)
at com.sun.mail.util.SocketFetcher.createSocket(SocketFetcher.java:233)
at com.sun.mail.util.SocketFetcher.getSocket(SocketFetcher.java:189)
at com.sun.mail.smtp.SMTPTransport.openServer(SMTPTransport.java:1359)