Sending email using Perl

Question

I’m trying to use Perl to send an email message. Basically I have a Perl script that prints out a report in a nice format. I want that report to be sent via email. How can I

Answer 1

If the machine does not have sendmail configured, I typically use Mail::Sendmail

use Mail::Sendmail;

%mail = (smtp    => 'my.isp.com:25',
         to      => 'foo@example.com',
         from    => 'bar@example.com',
         subject => 'Automatic greetings',
         message => 'Hello there');

sendmail(%mail) or die;

Answer 2

It's worth mentioning that if you happen to have Outlook on your machine and cpan the Outlook module:

 # create the object
 use Mail::Outlook;
 my $outlook = new Mail::Outlook();

  # start with a folder
  my $outlook = new Mail::Outlook('Inbox');

  # use the Win32::OLE::Const definitions
  use Mail::Outlook;
  use Win32::OLE::Const 'Microsoft Outlook';
  my $outlook = new Mail::Outlook(olInbox);

  # get/set the current folder
  my $folder = $outlook->folder();
  my $folder = $outlook->folder('Inbox');

  # get the first/last/next/previous message
  my $message = $folder->first();
  $message = $folder->next();
  $message = $folder->last();
  $message = $folder->previous();

 # read the attributes of the current message
 my $text = $message->From();
 $text = $message->To();
 $text = $message->Cc();
 $text = $message->Bcc();
 $text = $message->Subject();
 $text = $message->Body();
  my @list = $message->Attach();

  # use Outlook to display the current message
  $message->display;


  # Or use a hash
  my %hash = (
    To      => 'suanna@live.com.invalid',
    Subject => 'Blah Blah Blah',
     Body    => 'Yadda Yadda Yadda',
  );

  my $message = $outlook->create(%hash);
  $message->display(%hash);
  $message->send(%hash);

Note that the .invalid TLD is not real, so the address above will not deliver. In any case, I've put here a decent explanation of things in the module - this sends a message!

Answer 3

Simplest way without CPAN libraries:

#!/usr/bin/perl

$to = 'toAddress@xx.com';       # to address
$from = 'fromAddress@xx.com';   # from address
$subject = 'subject';           # email subject
$body = 'Email message content';# message

open(MAIL, "|/usr/sbin/sendmail -t");     
print MAIL "To: $to\n";
print MAIL "From: $from\n";
print MAIL "Subject: $subject\n\n";
print MAIL $body;    
close(MAIL);

print "Email Sent Successfully to $to\n";

Answer 4

MIME::Lite is a strong module used by many. It's easy to use, including if you want to attach documents.

use MIME::Lite;
my $msg = MIME::Lite->new(
    From    => $from,
    To      => $to,
    Subject => $subject,
    Type    => 'text/plain',
    Data    => $message,
);
$msg->send;

Since it uses sendmail by default (as opposed to SMTP), you don't even need to configure it.