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Mail::Transport(3pm) User Contributed Perl Documentation Mail::Transport(3pm)

NAME

Mail::Transport - use Mail Transfer Agents (MTAs)

INHERITANCE

 Mail::Transport
   is a Mail::Reporter
 Mail::Transport is extended by
   Mail::Transport::Receive
   Mail::Transport::Send

SYNOPSIS

  my $message = Mail::Message->new(...);
  # Some extensions implement sending:
  $message->send;
  $message->send(via => 'sendmail');
  my $sender = Mail::Transport::SMTP->new(...);
  $sender->send($message);
  # Some extensions implement receiving:
  my $receiver = Mail::Transport::POP3->new(...);
  $message = $receiver->receive;

DESCRIPTION

Objects which extend "Mail::Transport" implement sending and/or receiving of messages, using various protocols.

This is a maintenance release for the old interface. Read https://github.com/markov2/perl5-Mail-Box/wiki/ how to move towards version 4.

Mail::Transport::Send extends this class, and offers general functionality for send protocols, like SMTP. Mail::Transport::Receive also extends this class, and offers receive method. Some transport protocols will implement both sending and receiving.

Extends "DESCRIPTION" in Mail::Reporter.

METHODS

Extends "METHODS" in Mail::Reporter.

Constructors

Extends "Constructors" in Mail::Reporter.

$class->new(%options)
Inherited, see "Constructors" in Mail::Reporter 

 -Option    --Defined in     --Default
  executable                   undef
  hostname                     'localhost'
  interval                     30
  log         Mail::Reporter   'WARNINGS'
  password                     undef
  port                         undef
  proxy                        undef
  retry                        <unlimited>
  timeout                      120
  trace       Mail::Reporter   'WARNINGS'
  username                     undef
  via                          'sendmail'
If you specify an executable, the module does not need to search the system directories to figure-out where the client lives. Using this decreases the flexible usage of your program: moving your program to other systems may involve changing the path to the executable, which otherwise would work auto-detect and unmodified.
The $host on which the server runs. Some protocols accept an ARRAY of alternatives for this option.
The time $span between tries to contact the remote server for sending or receiving a message in seconds. This number must be larger than 0.
Some protocols require a $password to be given, usually in combination with a password.
The $port number behind which the service is hiding on the remote server.
The name of the proxy software (the protocol handler). This must be the name (preferable the absolute $path) of your mail delivery software.
The number of retries before the sending will fail. If "undef", the number of retries is unlimited.
The maximim seconds to wait for establishing the connection to a remote server.
Some protocols require a user to login.
Which CLASS (extending "Mail::Transport") will transport the data. Some predefined names avoid long class names: "mail" and "mailx" are handled by the Mail::Transport::Mailx module, "sendmail" and "postfix" belong to Mail::Transport::Sendmail, and "smtp" is implemented in Mail::Transport::SMTP.

The "pop" or "pop3" protocol implementation can be found distribution Mail::Transport::POP3. For "imap" or "imap4", install Mail::Transport::IMAP4.

Attributes

Extends "Attributes" in Mail::Reporter.

$obj->logSettings()
Inherited, see "Attributes" in Mail::Reporter

Server connection

$obj->findBinary( $name, [@directories] )
Look for a binary with the specified $name in the directories which are defined to be safe. The list of standard directories is followed by the optional @directories. The full pathname is returned.

You may specify new(proxy), which specifies the absolute name of the binary to be used.

$obj->remoteHost()
Returns the hostname, port number, username and password to be used to establish the connection to the server for sending or receiving mail.
$obj->retry()
Returns the retry interval, retry count, and timeout for the connection.

Error handling

Extends "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter.

$obj->AUTOLOAD()
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->addReport($object)
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$any->defaultTrace( [$level]|[$loglevel, $tracelevel]|[$level, $callback] )
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->errors()
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$any->log( [$level, [$strings]] )
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$any->logPriority($level)
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->notImplemented()
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->report( [$level] )
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->reportAll( [$level] )
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->trace( [$level] )
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->warnings()
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter

Cleanup

Extends "Cleanup" in Mail::Reporter.

$obj->DESTROY()
Inherited, see "Cleanup" in Mail::Reporter

DIAGNOSTICS

Specifying explicit locations for executables of email transfer agents should only be done with absolute file names, to avoid various pontential security problems. Cast by new()
The explicitly indicated mail transfer agent does not exists. The normal settings are used to find the correct location. Cast by new()
Fatal error: the specific package (or one of its superclasses) does not implement this method where it should. This message means that some other related classes do implement this method however the class at hand does not. Probably you should investigate this and probably inform the author of the package. Cast by notImplemented()

SEE ALSO

This module is part of Mail-Transport version 3.008, built on November 24, 2025. Website: http://perl.overmeer.net/CPAN/

LICENSE

For contributors see file ChangeLog.

This software is copyright (c) 2001-2025 by Mark Overmeer.

This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.

2025-12-07 perl v5.40.1