To gain access to your email account, you will need the following three essentials:
- A stable and active internet connection
- The address of a mail server that can handle relaying, which is usually provided by your email service provider (e.g., mail.domain.ext)
- A legitimate email address (e.g., mail@domain.ext)
Utilize the command line interface to initiate a connection from your computer to your designated mail server.
telnet mail.domain.ext 25
You should receive a response that looks something like this:
Trying ???.???.???.???...
Connected to mail.domain.ext.
Escape character is '^]'.
220 mail.domain.ext ESMTP Sendmail ?version-number?; ?date+time+gmtoffset?
Proceed by indicating the origin of your email:
HELO local.domain.name
The exact local domain name is not critical, though using your fully qualified domain name as recognized externally is recommended. The mail server needs to trust your input as per the standards set by RFC822-RFC1123.
Reply 250 mail.domain.ext Hello local.domain.name [loc.al.i.p], pleased to meet you
Next, enter your email address:
Reply
250 2.1.0 mail@domain.ext... Sender ok
Now, input the recipient's email address:
Reply
250 2.1.0 mail@otherdomain.ext... Recipient ok
To start composing your email message, use the following command:
DATA If you wish to include a subject for your email, type Subject:-type subject here- then press enter twice (these are required to comply with RFC 882) You can now proceed to write the body of your message.
This is a test email
To signal to the mail server that you have completed your message, enter a single period
.
Reply
250 2.0.0 ???????? Message accepted for delivery.
To close the connection, use the following command:
QUIT
Reply
221 2.0.0 mail.domain.ext closing connection
Connection closed by foreign host.
Errors
- 501 nouser@nosuchplace.here... Sender domain must exist
- 503 Need MAIL before RCPT - A recipient has been specified before a sender.
- 550 mail@domain.ext... Relaying Denied - The mail server has refused to relay mail for you.
