Creating an SMTP Server

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A POP3 server only does half the job when it comes to email. In this article you will learn how to build an SMTP server.

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A downloadable file for this article (for purposes of testing) is available here.
A downloadable zip of the source code is also available here.

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Introduction

An SMTP Server stores mail messages in an ordered way. The server gets the messages from an SMTP Client. For example, if you create and send a new message from a mail client such as Eudora or Outlook Express, an SMTP Client will carry this message to an SMTP Server associated with the domain in a mail address.

A typical email address consists of a name and domain name i.e., john@whatever.com, so the sending client will transport the message to the receiving server. The server will then store the message, so that a pop3 server can retrieve it later. To summarize, the purpose of an SMTP Server is to store messages received from SMTP Clients. If you want to learn more about pop3 servers, check out my article here; it's a companion piece to this one.

Aims of the Application

Like any communications protocol, the SMTP Server communicates through commands and replies. So in this tutorial we will implement all the commands that are needed to create a fully functional SMTP Server. The following commands are needed:

USERNAME
PASSWORD
MAIL FROM
RCPT TO
DATA

What you need

If you have Delphi 6 and above, then you can skip this section; otherwise go to http://www.indyproject.org/ and download the version appropriate to your Delphi version. I am using Delphi 7 and Indy 10.1.15. There are proper guides available on the indy site that explain how to install Indy on your computer.

Let's get started

Start Delphi, and create a new application. Drop the following components on the form:

Components	From Tab	Rename to:
TidSMTPserver	Indy Server	pops
TidMessage	Indy Misc	mess
TidServerInterceplogfile(optional)	Indy Intercept	logfile
TAdoConncetion	ADO	AdoConnection1
TADOtable	ADO	Ado1
TADOQuery	ADO	q2

Next: Setting the database connections >>
 

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Comments On: Creating an SMTP Server

· I'd like to see an article that created an SMTP/POP3 proxy so I could writecode to...    · I will certainly look into it!Thanks    · This not working for me, I use Delphi7, do i need to use some library to get this...    · Hello, anybody home    · I Created Own SMTP server using my airtel broadband connection....i can send emails...   >>> Post your comment now!