Question

I have successfully sent mail using Java using apache james server in Windows. I have been trying to do the same in Linux, but couldn’t start the james server. I am a novice in Linux.

Is james server really necessary for sending mails? If so how to start james server in Linux?

Answer 1

For sending emails in java you can use the java mail api: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javamail/index.html
See this tutorial for infos about using it: http://www.tutorialspoint.com/java/java_sending_email.htm

They are using a mail server on localhost, but i wouldn’t recommend that. It is perfectly alright for testing or if your localhost is a server with proper DNS records. If you send emails from a IP where DNS reverse lookup does not work, chances are that your mail will be stopped by a spam filter.

If you want a mailserver on localhost you could install exim, postfix, ssmtp or any other MTA from your linux distribution. It’s possible that one of them is already installed and running.

I would use some other mail server for example the one you are using to send emails. This line of code from the tutorial configures the host:

  // Setup mail server
  properties.setProperty("mail.smtp.host", host);