Setup Exim to Send Email Using Gmail in Debian

Follow this tutorial to setup your Exim to send email via Gmail SMTP server.

Install Exim4

apt-get install exim4

Configuration

Run following command to configure Exim4.

dpkg-reconfigure exim4-config

Choose this option when asked: "mail sent by smarthost; no local mail".

Fill in the rest of the fields:

System mail name: YOUR_HOSTNAME

IP-addresses to listen on for incoming SMTP connections: 127.0.0.1 ; ::1

Other destinations for which mail is accepted: <BLANK>

Visible domain name for local users: <BLANK>

IP address or host name of the outgoing smarthost: smtp.gmail.com::587

Keep number of DNS-queries minimal (Dial-on-Demand)? No

Split configuration into small files? No

Root and postmaster mail recipient: <BLANK>

Open and edit /etc/exim4/exim4.conf.template.

Search for:

.ifdef DCconfig_smarthost DCconfig_satellite

Then add these lines after it:

send_via_gmail:

    driver = manualroute

    domains = ! +local_domains

    transport = gmail_smtp

    route_list = * smtp.gmail.com

Remove other smarthost blocks that contains domains = ! +local_domains.

Search for:

begin authenticators

And add these lines after it:

gmail_login:

    driver = plaintext

    public_name = LOGIN

    client_send = : YOUR_GMAIL_ACCOUNT@gmail.com : YOUR_GMAIL_PASSWORD

Remove other authenticator blocks that contains public_name = LOGIN.

Search for:

transport/30_exim4-config_remote_smtp_smarthost

And add these lines after it:

gmail_smtp:

    driver = smtp

    port = 587

    hosts_require_auth = $host_address

    hosts_require_tls = $host_address

Save and close /etc/exim4/exim4.conf.template.

Apply the new configuration:

update-exim4.conf

Restart Exim4 service:

/etc/init.d/exim4 restart

Testing

Now send a test email using following command:

echo 'Test Message from VULTR.' | mail -s 'Test Message' YOUR_EMAIL_ADDRESS

Check /var/log/exim4/mainlog if any errors occurred. You can now send emails from your VULTR VPS.