In this article I will explain with an example, how to send email using Gmail SMTP Mail Server in ASP.Net with C# and VB.Net.
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"
enableSsl="true"
defaultCredentials"=true" />
</smtp>
</mailSettings>
</system.net>
HTML Markup
The HTML Markup consists of following controls:
TextBox – For capturing the values of Recipient Email address, Subject, Body, Gmail account email address, Gmail account password.
FileUpload – For selecting file.
Button – For sending email.
The Button has been assigned with an OnClick event handler.
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr>
<td style="width: 80px">To:</td>
<td><asp:TextBox runat="server" ID="txtTo"></asp:TextBox></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Subject:</td>
<td><asp:TextBox runat="server" ID="txtSubject"></asp:TextBox></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Body:</td>
<td><asp:TextBox runat="server" ID="txtBody" TextMode="MultiLine" Height="150" Width="200"></asp:TextBox></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>File Attachment:</td>
<td><asp:FileUpload runat="server" ID="fuAttachment" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Gmail Email:</td>
<td><asp:TextBox runat="server" ID="txtEmail"></asp:TextBox></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Gmail Password:</td>
<td><asp:TextBox runat="server" ID="txtPassword" TextMode="Password"></asp:TextBox></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><asp:Button runat="server" ID="btnSend" Text="Send" OnClick="SendEmail" /></td>
</tr>
</table>
Namespaces
You will need to import the following namespaces.
C#
using System.IO;
using System.Net;
using System.Net.Mail;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Net.Configuration;
VB.Net
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Net
Imports System.Net.Mail
Imports System.Configuration
Imports System.Net.Configuration
Sending email with attachment using Gmail SMTP Account
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.
IsBodyHtml – Specify whether body contains text or HTML mark up.
Attachments – Attachments. (If any)
ReplyTo – ReplyTo Email address.
SmtpClient class methods
Following are the methods of the SMTP class.
Host – SMTP Server URL (Gmail: smtp.gmail.com)
Port – Port Number of the SMTP sever (Gmail: 587)
EnableSsl – Specify whether your host accepts SSL Connections (Gmail: True)
UseDefaultCredentials – Set to True in order to allow authentication based on the Credentials of the Account used to send emails
Credentials – Valid login credentials for the SMTP server (Gmail: email address and password)
Sending email with attachment using Gmail SMTP Account in ASP.Net
When Send Button is clicked, the Recipient email address (toAddress), the Sender email address (fromAddress), Subject, Body values are fetched from their respective fields and are set into an object of the MailMessage class.
Setting Body of Email
The Body of the email is Text (Non HTML) hence the IsBodyHtml property of MailMessage class is set to FALSE.
Attaching File
The FileUpload is checked for Attachment and if it has File then the File is added as Attachment to the MailMessage class object.
Sending Email
Then, an object of the SmtpClient class is created and the values of Host, Port, EnableSsl and UseDefaultCredentials are fetched from the SMTP section of the Web.Config file and set to the respective properties of SmtpClient class along with the Credentials.
protected void SendEmail(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
//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;
bool enableSsl = smtpSection.Network.EnableSsl;
bool defaultCredentials = smtpSection.Network.DefaultCredentials;
using (MailMessage mm = new MailMessage(txtEmail.Text, txtTo.Text))
{
mm.Subject = txtSubject.Text;
mm.Body = txtBody.Text;
mm.IsBodyHtml = false;
if (fuAttachment.HasFile)
{
string FileName = Path.GetFileName(fuAttachment.PostedFile.FileName);
mm.Attachments.Add(new Attachment(fuAttachment.PostedFile.InputStream, FileName));
}
using (SmtpClient smtp = new SmtpClient())
{
smtp.Host = host;
smtp.Port = port;
smtp.EnableSsl = enableSsl;
smtp.UseDefaultCredentials = defaultCredentials;
NetworkCredential networkCred = new NetworkCredential(txtEmail.Text, txtPassword.Text);
smtp.Credentials = networkCred;
smtp.Send(mm);
}
}
ClientScript.RegisterStartupScript(this.GetType(), "alert", "alert('Email sent.');", true);
}
VB.Net
Protected Sub SendEmail(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
'Read SMTP section from Web.Config.
Dim smtpSection As SmtpSection = CType(ConfigurationManager.GetSection("system.net/mailSettings/smtp"), SmtpSection)
Dim host As String = smtpSection.Network.Host
Dim port As Integer = smtpSection.Network.Port
Dim enableSsl As Boolean = smtpSection.Network.EnableSsl
Dim defaultCredentials = smtpSection.Network.DefaultCredentials
Using mm As MailMessage = New MailMessage(txtEmail.Text, txtTo.Text)
mm.Subject = txtSubject.Text
mm.Body = txtBody.Text
mm.IsBodyHtml = False
If fuAttachment.HasFile Then
Dim FileName As String = Path.GetFileName(fuAttachment.PostedFile.FileName)
mm.Attachments.Add(New Attachment(fuAttachment.PostedFile.InputStream, FileName))
End If
Using smtp As SmtpClient = New SmtpClient()
smtp.Host = host
smtp.Port = port
smtp.EnableSsl = enableSsl
smtp.UseDefaultCredentials = defaultCredentials
Dim networkCred As NetworkCredential = New NetworkCredential(txtEmail.Text, txtPassword.Text)
smtp.Credentials = networkCred
smtp.Send(mm)
End Using
End Using
ClientScript.RegisterStartupScript(Me.GetType(), "alert", "alert('Email sent.');", True)
End Sub
Possible Error
The following error occurs when you try to send email using Gmail credentials in your application.
The SMTP server requires a secure connection or the client was not authenticated. The server response was: 5.5.1 Authentication Required. Learn more at
Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.
Exception Details: System.Net.Mail.SmtpException: The SMTP server requires a secure connection or the client was not authenticated. The server response was: 5.5.1 Authentication Required. Learn more at
Solution
Screenshots
Email Form
Received Email
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