Sending EMail - SMTP secure connection Error

[Volkof]

Hi everyone.

I followed an Email tutorial on this link:

https://www.tutorialspoint.com/vb.ne...send_email.htm

The purpose for sending email is when user wants to reset password. A new password is sent to their email.

Private Sub FgtPW_LinkLabel_LinkClicked(sender As Object, e As LinkLabelLinkClickedEventArgs) Handles FgtPW_LinkLabel.LinkClicked
        If MessageBox.Show("Are you sure you want to reset password?" & vbNewLine & vbNewLine &
               "A new password will be sent to the following email:" & vbNewLine & vbNewLine &
               vbTab & My.Settings.Email, "Forgot Password",
         MessageBoxButtons.YesNo, MessageBoxIcon.Question) _
         = DialogResult.Yes Then

            Try
                Dim SmtpServer As New SmtpClient()
                Dim mail As New MailMessage()
                SmtpServer.UseDefaultCredentials = False
                SmtpServer.Credentials = New Net.NetworkCredential(My.Settings.Email.ToString, "password")
                SmtpServer.Port = 587
                SmtpServer.EnableSsl = True
                SmtpServer.Host = "smtp.gmail.com"
                mail = New MailMessage()
                mail.From = New MailAddress("[email protected]")
                mail.To.Add(My.Settings.Email.ToString)
                mail.Subject = "EVC Kiosk New Generated Password"
                mail.Body = "This is for testing SMTP mail from GMAIL"
                SmtpServer.Send(mail)
                MsgBox("mail send")
            Catch ex As Exception
                MsgBox(ex.ToString)
            End Try

        End If
    End Sub

1st Question:

I was flashed with the error upon testing. Something about SMTP server requires a secure connection or the client was not authenticated.



Can anybody tell me what this means?



2nd Question:

SmtpServer.Credentials = New Net.NetworkCredential(My.Settings.Email.ToString, "password")

Do I really need an email password here? I mean there is no way I will know the email password the user will have. When we send email to others, we are not asked for their password right? Also, what if the user changes email with different password.
I don't understand the reason behind this line of code. Can anyone enlighten me?

[robertx]

The network credentials are the username and password needed to authenticate with the SMTP mail server in order for it to accept the request to relay the email. With GMAIL, you will need to specify a valid gmail address as the username and its associated login password. Does My.Settings.Email.ToString represent a valid gmail email address and is its login password "password"?

[robertx]

You cannot rely on the user having a gmail address and like you say, if the user changes their gmail password, emails will stop sending. You will need to hard code a gmail address and password that you have created or provide a settings console where the user can enter their own SMTP credentials.

[Volkof]

I did a bit of googling. The code works, but It seems that the error was because the Gmail Account Setting has blocked unsecure apps.

One way I can think of is create a new dummy gmail account and turn its Secure Apps settings to OFF. Its only purpose is for authentication

SmtpServer.Credentials = New Net.NetworkCredential("dummy gmail", "dummy password")

Then now you can send the message to whichever email (Need not be gmail) you want.

mail.To.Add(My.Settings.Email.ToString)

Tested and it works.

[robertx]

That's what I'd suggest if you want a portable solution that's not going to require any user configuration. If you are going to be generating high volumes of emails, consider that Gmail's spam filter might start blocking them.