How to send email on my local computer only - when I dont have access to an SMTP server?

rasolomon has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I want to be able to send emails on my computer. That means that I need to convert my computer into an SMTP server.

How do I go about doing that? I hear about a free smtp server on http://www.softstack.com/freesmtp.html however I also found out that Perl does Net::SMTP::Server

How do I use Net::SMTP::Server along with another package such as Net::SMTP or MIME::Lite ?

However if there are better solutions so I can send emails from my laptop without using somebody else's smtp server, I would welcome those!

Thanks

Original node content restored above by GrandFather

OK, I know this is an easy question for you guys. I would like to use an MTA such as sendmail, qmail, or postfix as Javafan suggested. however I am using ActivPerl and I dont know how I can install these yet.

Also, could you give me some code examples on how I can use these please?

Sorry for the simple question: I tried to google for hours for an answer but cant come up with anything.

thanks

Comment on How to send email on my local computer only - when I dont have access to an SMTP server?

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Re: How to send email on my local computer only - when I dont have access to an SMTP server? by stonecolddevin (Parson) on Feb 11, 2009 at 15:36 UTC
Net::SMTP::Server is probably best for development testing, so you don't have to have a full blown SMTP server to test your email sending features. I could be WAY off, but i'm not even sure it is a multithreaded server, and if that's the case, it makes it a very poor candidate for any kind of non-development use. Also, as JavaFan stated, you can use a MTA (mail transport agent) such as sendmail that will take care of the actual mail sending for you. meh.	[reply]
Re: How to send email on my local computer only - when I dont have access to an SMTP server? by JavaFan (Canon) on Feb 11, 2009 at 15:20 UTC
However if there are better solutions so I can send emails from my laptop without using somebody else's smtp server, I would welcome those! Don't bother writing any code to do that. There are many open source solutions that send out mail. `sendmail`, `postfix` and `qmail` to name a few.	[reply]
Re: How to send email on my local computer only - when I dont have access to an SMTP server? by zod (Scribe) on Feb 11, 2009 at 20:28 UTC
You can install XMail on windows: http://www.xmailserver.org/ It is a free smtp server. Then just use either Net::SMTP or Mail::Sendmail to connect to it. however I am using ActivPerl and I dont know how I can install these yet. Installing the smtp server on windows isn't really a perl issue. After you have the smtp server running on windows, try to connect to it via perl. If you get stuck at that point, ask again. hth	[reply]
Re: How to send email on my local computer only - when I dont have access to an SMTP server? by syphilis (Archbishop) on Feb 12, 2009 at 08:34 UTC
I want to be able to send emails on my computer. That means that I need to convert my computer into an SMTP mail server. No, you can send emails with Net::SMTP using your ISP's server. Do you really want to set up a mail server ? Net::SMTP isn't the only one you can use, but if you have ActivePerl then you already have Net::SMTP. Cheers, Rob	[reply]
Re: How to send email on my local computer only - when I dont have access to an SMTP server? by matze77 (Friar) on Feb 11, 2009 at 18:02 UTC
Hmm. So you use (mentioned ActivPerl) Windoze? Maybe you want to look for some simple open source MTA. Dont know if the win32 Client OS has an smtp server integrated, but google for "Freeware Smtp Server Windowsosname" windowsosname=windows XP e.g. should help you or search at sourceforge.net ... If you want to send mail to some external adress you should use your "smarthost" at your ISP or an "SMTP Relay Server" but dont send mail direct.	[reply]