{"id":9943,"date":"2021-01-25T00:00:13","date_gmt":"2021-01-25T08:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/?p=9943"},"modified":"2022-04-19T21:53:13","modified_gmt":"2022-04-20T04:53:13","slug":"send-email-without-outlook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/windows-services\/send-email-without-outlook\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Proven Ways to Send Email from a Windows Service (Without Outlook)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sending<\/div>\n

Not all Outlook functions work from a Windows Service<\/h2>\n

Calling Outlook from a Windows Service can be problematic. Even though many operations work fine, Microsoft has issued some pointed advice<\/a> for customers looking to run any Office application in the background in Session 0<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n All current versions of Microsoft Office were designed, tested, and configured to run as end-user products on a client workstation. They assume an interactive desktop and user profile<\/b>. They do not provide the level of reentrancy or security that is necessary to meet the needs of server-side components that are designed to run unattended.<\/p>\n

Microsoft does not currently recommend, and does not support, Automation of Microsoft Office applications from any unattended, non-interactive client application or component (including ASP, ASP.NET, DCOM, and NT Services<\/b>), because Office may exhibit unstable behavior and\/or deadlock when Office is run in this environment.<\/p>\n

If you are building a solution that runs in a server-side context, you should try to use components that have been made safe for unattended execution<\/b>. Or, you should try to find alternatives that allow at least part of the code to run client-side. If you use an Office application from a server-side solution, the application will lack many of the necessary capabilities to run successfully.\n<\/div>\n

Very disappointing!<\/p>\n

So instead of calling Outlook, which may be unreliable when run in the context of a service, look to one of these alternative solutions instead:<\/p>\n

Solution #1: Have your Windows Service call PowerShell to send basic email<\/h2>\n

If you don’t want to install any third-party utilities, you can leverage Microsoft’s ubiquitous PowerShell<\/a> utility to deliver your messages. And to help, we’ve created a simple script that, given eight required parameters, will send an email to any address:<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n
\n
<#<\/span>\r\n   send-email.ps1<\/span>\r\n   <\/span>\r\n   Summary: Sends email.<\/span>\r\n\r\n   Usage: <\/span>\r\n      send-email.ps1 <FROM-EMAIL> <TO-EMAIL> <SUBJECT> <BODY> <SMTP-SERVER> <USERNAME> <PASSWORD><\/span>\r\n\r\n      Example:<\/span>\r\n         send-email.ps1 "admin@coretechnologies.com" "alerts@coretechnologies.com" "Server down" <\/span>\r\n           "Server 'FileServer1' is down!" "smtp.gmail.com" 587 "admin@coretechnologies.com" "pwd74YKYRO"<\/span>\r\n\r\n   2020, Core Technologies Consulting, LLC (https:\/\/coretechnologies.com)<\/span>\r\n#><\/span>\r\n\r\nif<\/span> ($args<\/span>.Count -ne<\/span> 8) {\r\n   Write-Host<\/span> "Passed"<\/span> $args<\/span>.Count "parameters; expected 8."<\/span>\r\n   Write-Host<\/span> "Usage:"<\/span>\r\n   Write-Host<\/span> "send-email.ps1 <FROM-EMAIL> <TO-EMAIL> <SUBJECT> <BODY> <SMTP-SERVER> <SMTP-PORT> <USERNAME> <PASSWORD>"<\/span>\r\n   exit 1\r\n}\r\n\r\n$fromEmail<\/span> = $args<\/span>[0]\r\n$toEmail<\/span> = $args<\/span>[1]\r\n$subject<\/span> = $args<\/span>[2]\r\n$body<\/span> = $args<\/span>[3]\r\n$smtpServer<\/span> = $args<\/span>[4]\r\n$smtpPort<\/span> = $args<\/span>[5]\r\n$userName<\/span> = $args<\/span>[6]\r\n$password<\/span> = $args<\/span>[7]\r\n\r\n$smtpClient<\/span> = New-Object<\/span> Net.Mail.SmtpClient($smtpServer<\/span>, $smtpPort<\/span>)\r\n$smtpClient<\/span>.EnableSsl = $true<\/span>\r\n$smtpClient<\/span>.Credentials = New-Object<\/span> System.Net.NetworkCredential($userName<\/span>, $password<\/span>)\r\n\r\n$smtpClient<\/span>.Send($fromEmail<\/span>, $toEmail<\/span>, $subject<\/span>, $body<\/span>)\r\n<\/pre>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
You can download the PowerShell script here<\/a>. Please feel free to adapt it for your needs.<\/p>\n
Your email provider will determine the SMTP server and port number you should use. For example, if your provider is Gmail, the SMTP server is “smtp.gmail.com” and the port is 587.<\/p>\n
To invoke the script from an application, run the PowerShell executable with the -File<\/b> option. Specify the full path to the script along with the eight required parameters.<\/p>\n
For example, if you’ve saved the script in C:\\Utilities and you’re sending via Gmail, your command line will look like this:<\/p>\n
\npowershell.exe -File "C:\\Utilities\\send-email.ps1" from@coretechnologies.com to@coretechnologies.com "Server Down Alert" "Server 'FileServer1' is down!" smtp.gmail.com 587 from@coretechnologies.com "PWD8581JG$"\n<\/div>\n
Watch out for quotes in the subject and body and escape accordingly!<\/p>\n
Solution #2: Use SwithMail to deliver complex messages from your Windows Service<\/h2>\n
SwithMail<\/a> is a free, no-nonsense utility that can send very detailed email messages. It supports all the important messaging options, including:<\/p>\n