Send an email with telnet

This little piece of info has been beaten to death on the Internet, posted hundreds of times on hundreds of websites. The only reason that I am posting it here is to help me remember it after I haven’t done it in quite a while. (The filing cabinet theory)

Telnet to the mail server of your choice (note the 25 at the end)

telnet mail.domain.com 25

Say hello to the receiving mail server with HELO

helo sender.com

Tell the receiving mail server who is sending the email

mail from: [email protected]

Tell the receiving mail server whom you are emailing

rcpt to: [email protected]

Send any message you wish

data

hello spamuser1, i know where you live.

End with a single . (period) on a line

.

All done. The receiving mail server should tell you that the message has been queued for delivery.

The whole message track should look like this

telnet mail.domain.com 25
helo
mail from:
rcpt to:
data
hello spamuser1, i know where you live.
.

I would say on average, I use this technique for testing mail servers 3 times a week now. Seem’s pretty high, but it sure beats logging into a webmail server and sending mail, then looking for the message to process through the logs for verification. Just telnet, and verify in 10 seconds or less. Have fun, happy telnetting.