Sending email using UTL_SMTP

Question

Dear experts,
I am trying to send an email using UTL_SMTP (i switched from UTL_MAIL to UTL_SMTP since i need to send mails with large attachments - BLOB). I am using the demo_mail package given here:
http://www.oracle.com/technology/sample_code/tech/pl_sql/htdocs/Utl_Smtp_Sample.html
While running the program I am getting an error message (from the error.log) saying:
[Mon Aug 04 14:00:21 2008] [error] [client 192.168.0.7] mod_plsql: /ns/email_p.send HTTP-404 ORA-29279: SMTP permanent error: 530 5.7.0 Must issue a STARTTLS command first. 9sm12723808qbw.6\nORA-06512: at "SYS.UTL_SMTP", line 20\nORA-06512: at "SYS.UTL_SMTP", line 98\nORA-06512: at "SYS.UTL_SMTP", line 221\nORA-06512: at "NEXTSTEP.SEND_EMAIL_HELPER", line 258\nORA-06512: at "NEXTSTEP.SEND_EMAIL_HELPER", line 119\nORA-06512: at "NEXTSTEP.EMAIL_P", line 33\nORA-06512: at line 31\n, referer: file:///C:/Documents and Settings/Mayank/My Documents/Flex Builder 3/ns5/bin-debug/main.swf
My code is as follows:
PACKAGE DECLARATION. This is the DEMO_MAIL package posted under above link (I have renamed it).
CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE NEXTSTEP.send_email_helper IS
  ----------------------- Customizable Section -----------------------
  -- Customize the SMTP host, port and your domain name below.
    smtp_host   VARCHAR2(256) := 'smtp.gmail.com';
    smtp_port   PLS_INTEGER   := 587;
    smtp_domain VARCHAR2(256) := null;
  -- Customize the signature that will appear in the email's MIME header.
  -- Useful for versioning.
  MAILER_ID   CONSTANT VARCHAR2(256) := 'Mailer by Oracle UTL_SMTP';
  --------------------- End Customizable Section ---------------------
  -- A unique string that demarcates boundaries of parts in a multi-part email
  -- The string should not appear inside the body of any part of the email.
  -- Customize this if needed or generate this randomly dynamically.
  BOUNDARY        CONSTANT VARCHAR2(256) := '-----7D81B75CCC90D2974F7A1CBD';
  FIRST_BOUNDARY  CONSTANT VARCHAR2(256) := '--' || BOUNDARY || utl_tcp.CRLF;
  LAST_BOUNDARY   CONSTANT VARCHAR2(256) := '--' || BOUNDARY || '--' ||
                                              utl_tcp.CRLF;
  -- A MIME type that denotes multi-part email (MIME) messages.
  MULTIPART_MIME_TYPE CONSTANT VARCHAR2(256) := 'multipart/mixed; boundary="'||
                                                  BOUNDARY || '"';
  MAX_BASE64_LINE_WIDTH CONSTANT PLS_INTEGER   := 76 / 4 * 3;
  -- A simple email API for sending email in plain text in a single call.
  -- The format of an email address is one of these:
  --   someone@some-domain
  --   "Someone at some domain" <someone@some-domain>
  --   Someone at some domain <someone@some-domain>
  -- The recipients is a list of email addresses  separated by
  -- either a "," or a ";"
  PROCEDURE mail(sender     IN VARCHAR2,
         recipients IN VARCHAR2,
         subject    IN VARCHAR2,
         message    IN VARCHAR2);
  -- Extended email API to send email in HTML or plain text with no size limit.
  -- First, begin the email by begin_mail(). Then, call write_text() repeatedly
  -- to send email in ASCII piece-by-piece. Or, call write_mb_text() to send
  -- email in non-ASCII or multi-byte character set. End the email with
  -- end_mail().
  FUNCTION begin_mail(sender     IN VARCHAR2,
              recipients IN VARCHAR2,
              subject    IN VARCHAR2,
              mime_type  IN VARCHAR2    DEFAULT 'text/plain',
              priority   IN PLS_INTEGER DEFAULT NULL)
              RETURN utl_smtp.connection;
  -- Write email body in ASCII
  PROCEDURE write_text(conn    IN OUT NOCOPY utl_smtp.connection,
               message IN VARCHAR2);
  -- Write email body in non-ASCII (including multi-byte). The email body
  -- will be sent in the database character set.
  PROCEDURE write_mb_text(conn    IN OUT NOCOPY utl_smtp.connection,
              message IN            VARCHAR2);
  -- Write email body in binary
  PROCEDURE write_raw(conn    IN OUT NOCOPY utl_smtp.connection,
              message IN RAW);
  -- APIs to send email with attachments. Attachments are sent by sending
  -- emails in "multipart/mixed" MIME format. Specify that MIME format when
  -- beginning an email with begin_mail().
  -- Send a single text attachment.
  PROCEDURE attach_text(conn         IN OUT NOCOPY utl_smtp.connection,
            data         IN VARCHAR2,
            mime_type    IN VARCHAR2 DEFAULT 'text/plain',
            inline       IN BOOLEAN  DEFAULT TRUE,
            filename     IN VARCHAR2 DEFAULT NULL,
                last         IN BOOLEAN  DEFAULT FALSE);
  -- Send a binary attachment. The attachment will be encoded in Base-64
  -- encoding format.
  PROCEDURE attach_base64(conn         IN OUT NOCOPY utl_smtp.connection,
              data         IN RAW,
              mime_type    IN VARCHAR2 DEFAULT 'application/octet',
              inline       IN BOOLEAN  DEFAULT TRUE,
              filename     IN VARCHAR2 DEFAULT NULL,
              last         IN BOOLEAN  DEFAULT FALSE);
  -- Send an attachment with no size limit. First, begin the attachment
  -- with begin_attachment(). Then, call write_text repeatedly to send
  -- the attachment piece-by-piece. If the attachment is text-based but
  -- in non-ASCII or multi-byte character set, use write_mb_text() instead.
  -- To send binary attachment, the binary content should first be
  -- encoded in Base-64 encoding format using the demo package for 8i,
  -- or the native one in 9i. End the attachment with end_attachment.
  PROCEDURE begin_attachment(conn         IN OUT NOCOPY utl_smtp.connection,
                 mime_type    IN VARCHAR2 DEFAULT 'text/plain',
                 inline       IN BOOLEAN  DEFAULT TRUE,
                 filename     IN VARCHAR2 DEFAULT NULL,
                 transfer_enc IN VARCHAR2 DEFAULT NULL);
  -- End the attachment.
  PROCEDURE end_attachment(conn IN OUT NOCOPY utl_smtp.connection,
               last IN BOOLEAN DEFAULT FALSE);
  -- End the email.
  PROCEDURE end_mail(conn IN OUT NOCOPY utl_smtp.connection);
  -- Extended email API to send multiple emails in a session for better
  -- performance. First, begin an email session with begin_session.
  -- Then, begin each email with a session by calling begin_mail_in_session
  -- instead of begin_mail. End the email with end_mail_in_session instead
  -- of end_mail. End the email session by end_session.
  FUNCTION begin_session RETURN utl_smtp.connection;
  -- Begin an email in a session.
  PROCEDURE begin_mail_in_session(conn       IN OUT NOCOPY utl_smtp.connection,
                  sender     IN VARCHAR2,
                  recipients IN VARCHAR2,
                  subject    IN VARCHAR2,
                  mime_type  IN VARCHAR2  DEFAULT 'text/plain',
                  priority   IN PLS_INTEGER DEFAULT NULL);
  -- End an email in a session.
  PROCEDURE end_mail_in_session(conn IN OUT NOCOPY utl_smtp.connection);
  -- End an email session.
  PROCEDURE end_session(conn IN OUT NOCOPY utl_smtp.connection);
END;How should I solve the above error? Can anyone help me with my query please?
If I add the code to start TLS it still gives me an error. If I add the code
utl_smtp.command(conn,'STARTTLS');
utl_smtp.helo(conn, smtp_domain);
under email_sender_help package just before under begin_session function, it gives me an error saying:
ORA-29279: SMTP permanent error: 503 5.5.1 EHLO/HELO first. s27sm2097329qbs.12
So then if i enter the same code after:
utl_smtp.command(conn,'STARTTLS');
utl_smtp.helo(conn, smtp_domain);
It gives me an error:
ORA-29278: SMTP transient error: 421 Service not available
Message was edited by:
Monk
Message was edited by:
Monk

Answer 1

look like rely turned off on the server..
check this.. or ask your network guys..
Go to Control Panel->Add or Remove Programs->Click on
Add/Remove Wndows Components
Check IIS check box.
Select Internet Information Service (IIS) option and click on Details button
Check whether SMTP Service is checked or not.
If not selected then select SMTP check box.
This process should be done on server.
It will help out from ORA-29278: SMTP transient error: 421 Service not available problem.
thanks