In this article I will explain with an example, how to send email using
MailKit library in ASP.Net MVC.
Installing MailKit package
Mail Server Settings in Web.Config file
The following Mail Server settings need to be saved in the Web.Config file.
<system.net>
<mailSettings>
<smtp deliveryMethod="Network">
<network
host="smtp.gmail.com"
port="587" />
</smtp>
</mailSettings>
</system.net>
MimeKit MimeMessage and MailKit SmtpClient class
MimeMessage Class Properties
Following are the required properties of the MimeMessage class.
From – Sender’s email address.
To – Recipient(s) Email Address.
CC – Carbon Copies. (If any)
BCC – Blind Carbon Copies. (If any)
Subject – Subject of the Email.
Body – Body of the Email.
Attachments – Attachments. (If any)
ReplyTo – ReplyTo Email address.
SmtpClient Class Methods
Following are the methods of the SmtpClient class.
Connect – The connection to the SMTP Server is established using the domain and the port number.
Authenticate – The username and password of the SMTP Server is authenticated.
Send – The MimeMessage object is passed to it and the email is sent.
Disconnect – Disconnects the connection with SMTP Server.
Model
The Model class consists of the following properties.
public class EmailModel
{
public string To { get; set; }
public string Subject { get; set; }
public string Body { get; set; }
public string Email { get; set; }
public string Password { get; set; }
}
Namespaces
You will need to import the following namespaces.
using MimeKit;
using MailKit.Net.Smtp;
using MailKit.Security;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Net.Configuration;
Controller
The Controller consists of following Action methods.
Action method for handling GET operation
Inside this Action method, simply the View is returned.
Action method for handling POST operation
This Action method handles the call made from the POST function from the View.
Inside this Action method, the posted values are captured through the EmailModel class object. All the fetched values are set into an object of the MailMessage class except the Body.
Setting Body of Email
For Body, an object of Builder class is created. The Body of the email is Text (Non HTML) hence it is set into the TextBody property of the Builder class object.
Sending Email
Then, an object of the SmtpClient class is created and the values of Host, Port are fetched from the SMTP section of the Web.Config file and are passed as parameter to Connect method along with the SecureSocketOptions set to Auto.
Note: Setting Auto allows
MailKit service to decide which SSL or TLS option to use. Hence, enabling SSL is not required.
Also, the CheckCertificateRevocation is set to FALSE.
Note: This is optional and must be used only when Certificate errors are occurring.
Finally, the methods of the Mail Server such as
Connect,
Authenticate,
Send and
Disconnect are executed and a success message is set to a
ViewBag object.
public class HomeController : Controller
{
// GET: Home
public ActionResult Index()
{
return View();
}
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Index(EmailModel model)
{
//Read SMTP section from Web.Config.
SmtpSection smtpSection = (SmtpSection)ConfigurationManager.GetSection("system.net/mailSettings/smtp");
string host = smtpSection.Network.Host;
int port = smtpSection.Network.Port;
using (MimeMessage mm = new MimeMessage())
{
mm.From.Add(new MailboxAddress("Sender", model.Email));
mm.To.Add(new MailboxAddress("Recepient", model.To));
mm.Subject = model.Subject;
BodyBuilder builder = new BodyBuilder()
{
TextBody = body
};
mm.Body = builder.ToMessageBody();
using (SmtpClient smtp = new SmtpClient())
{
//Set to False to avoid Certificate verification.
smtp.CheckCertificateRevocation = false;
smtp.Connect(host, port, SecureSocketOptions.Auto);
smtp.Authenticate(model.Email, model.Password);
smtp.Send(mm);
smtp.Disconnect(true);
}
}
ViewBag.Message = "Email sent.";
return View();
}
}
View
Inside the View, in the very first line the EmailModel class is declared as model for the View.
The View consists of an HTML Form which has been created using the Html.BeginForm method with the following parameters.
ActionName – Name of the Action. In this case the name is Index.
ControllerName – Name of the Controller. In this case the name is Home.
FormMethod – It specifies the Form Method i.e. GET or POST. In this case it will be set to POST.
The Form consists of HTML TextBox, TextArea element and a Submit Button.
Note: For more details in creating HTML TextBox, TextArea, FileUpload element in ASP.Net MVC, please refer following articles.
When the Submit Button is clicked, the Form gets submitted and the Model object is sent to the Controller.
Finally, the
ViewBag object is checked for NULL and if it is not NULL then the value of the object is displayed using JavaScript Alert Message Box.
@model Send_Email_Mailkit_MVC.Models.EmailModel
@{
Layout = null;
}
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width" />
<title>Index</title>
</head>
<body>
@using (Html.BeginForm("Index", "Home", FormMethod.Post))
{
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr>
<td style="width: 80px">To:</td>
<td>@Html.TextBoxFor(model => model.To)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Subject:</td>
<td>@Html.TextBoxFor(model => model.Subject)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Body:</td>
<td>@Html.TextAreaFor(model => model.Body, new { rows = "3", cols = "20" })</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Gmail Email:</td>
<td>@Html.TextBoxFor(model => model.Email)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Gmail Password:</td>
<td>@Html.TextBoxFor(model => model.Password, new { type = "password" })</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><input id="btnSend" type="submit" value="Send" /></td>
</tr>
</table>
}
@if (ViewBag.Message != null)
{
<script type="text/javascript">
window.onload = function () {
alert("@ViewBag.Message");
};
</script>
}
</body>
</html>
Possible Errors
The possible errors (exceptions) occurring while sending email with
MailKit in .Net are covered in the following article.
Screenshots
Email Form
![Send Email using MailKit in ASP.Net MVC]()
Received Email
![Send Email using MailKit in ASP.Net MVC]()
Downloads
