[VM] sending email with ssl to Verizon server

[Alan Wehmann]

I earlier wrote that I would provide more detail on using gnutls-cli (from 
cygwin) with Emacs 24.2 on my Windows XP Home laptop.
I now provide more detail.

The following are copied from my customization file:

 '(mail-default-reply-to "address@hidden" nil (sendmail) "use Gmail")
 '(mail-from-style (quote angles))
 '(mail-interactive t)
 '(mail-self-blind (expand-file-name "~/mail_rmail/XMAIL_sent_mail") nil 
(sendmail))
 '(mail-signature t)
 '(mail-signature-file "c:/cygwin/home/.gmail_signature" nil (sendmail) "use 
Gmail")
 '(mail-user-agent (quote vm-user-agent))
 '(pop3-stream-type (quote ssl))
 '(query-user-mail-address nil)
 '(send-mail-function (quote smtpmail-send-it))
 '(smtpmail-smtp-server "smtp.googlemail.com" nil nil "use Gmail")
 '(smtpmail-smtp-service 465)
 '(smtpmail-stream-type (quote ssl))
 '(tls-program (quote ("gnutls-cli --x509cafile /usr/ssl/certs/ca-bundle.crt 
--insecure -p %p %h")))

In this example I am using the smtp server "smtp.googlemail.com" (there is 
another, "smtp.gmail.com", which uses a different port on the same server).

Info node "(smtpmail) Authentication describes the use of the ~/.authinfo file 
to do the necessary authentication.

As a test I invoked the following in my Emacs shell buffer (which is using bash 
from Cygwin to interpret commands):

gnutls-cli --x509cafile /usr/ssl/certs/ca-bundle.crt --insecure -p 465 
smtp.verizon.net

This specifies a location for a file with CA certificates.  I created the 
Certificate Authority cert file from the Mozilla cert bundle, using the advice 
given in

http://www.mail-archive.com/address@hidden/msg16980.html

But I'm still using the --insecure option on the gnutls-cli command, so the 
checking on the server certificate is not necessary (I should be able to remove 
that option and thus insist that the server is valid).

After invoking the gnutls-cli command in the shell buffer, there is some output 
about the certificates and the TLS handshake takes place and the server 
identifies itself.  I can then type "EHLO DELLLAPTOP" and the POP server will 
give me some status codes.  One of these assures me that the authentication 
done by Emacs will work (this isn't true for the smtp server email.fnal.gov, at 
the lab where I used to work).

I wasn't interested in doing anything further, so I gave the command "QUIT" to 
the POP server at this point.

I can initiate writing email with the command "compose-mail", or I can use the 
methods specified in info node "(vm) Sending Messages".

-- 
Alan Wehmann
address@hidden