Simple Mail Transfer Protocol

(SMTP) A protocol defined in STD 10, RFC 821, used to transfer electronic mail between computers, usually over Ethernet. It is a server to server protocol, so other protocols are used to access the messages. The SMTP dialog usually happens in the background under the control of the message transport system, e.g. sendmail but it is possible to interact with an SMTP server using telnet to connect to the normal SMTP port, 25. E.g.

	telnet mhs-relay.ac.uk 25

You should normally start by identifying the local host:

	HELO wombat.doc.ic.ac.uk

You can then issue commands to verify an address or expand an alias:

	VRFY dbh@doc.ic.ac.uk
 	VRFY postmaster

or expand a mailing list:

	EXPN c-help

You can even send a message:

	MAIL From:<dbh@doc.ic.ac.uk>
 	RCPT To:<dbh@mailway.doc.ic.ac.uk>
 	DATA
 	What is the point?
 	.
 	QUIT

This is useful if you want to find out exactly what is happening to your message at a certain point. See also Post Office Protocol, RFC 822, sendmail.

(17 Oct 1995)