How to set up MSMTP on Debian to use a mailhoster with SMTP
Tags: msmtp, mailhoster, linux, smtp, tls
Last update: Jul 2022
Tested with: Debian 11
Steps
First we need to install packages:
sudo apt install msmtp mailutils
Note: mailutils is needed for sending mail via “mail” on the command line.
Edit the global configuration file:
sudo nano /etc/msmtprc
Fill up the configuration file:
# Set default values for all accounts.
account default
auth on
tls on
tls_trust_file /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt
# netcup
host <yourMailHost>
port 587
from <mail@domain.tld>
user <user>
password <pass>
aliases /etc/msmtp-aliases
# Syslog logging with facility LOG_MAIL instead of the default LOG_USER
syslog LOG_MAIL
Create the aliases file:
sudo nano /etc/msmtp-aliases
with the following content:
# Send root mails to
root: <yourAddress>
# Send cron mails to
cron: <yourAddress>
# Send everything else to admin
default: <yourAddress>
Create the mail.rc. file:
sudo nano /etc/mail.rc
and fill it up with:
set sendmail="/usr/bin/msmtp -t"
If you need to check the logs in case of troubleshooting:
sudo tail -f /var/log/mail.log
Sources
- https://decatec.de/linux/linux-einfach-e-mails-versenden-mit-msmtp
- https://caupo.ee/blog/2020/07/05/how-to-install-msmtp-to-debian-10-for-sending-emails-with-gmail
- https://mattsch.com/2021/05/12/setting-up-msmtp
- https://manpages.org/msmtp
Change history
- Jul 2022: creation
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!