Django SMTP Server

A simple Django project that sets up an SMTP server to handle contact form submissions. The project includes an endpoint to submit contact form data which will be sent via email using SMTP.

Setup Instructions (with Docker)

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/dharshan-kumarj/SMTP_Django.git
cd SMTP_Django

2. Create a .env File

Create a .env file in the root directory of your project and add the following environment variables. Replace the placeholder values with your actual credentials.

SECRET_KEY=your_secret_key_here
DEBUG=True
EMAIL_HOST=smtp.gmail.com
EMAIL_PORT=587
[email protected]
EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD=your_app_password_here

Note: If using Gmail, you must enable 2-factor authentication in your Gmail account and generate an app-specific password to use as EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD. Follow this guide to generate an app password.

3. Run with Docker Compose

The project is containerized with Docker for easy setup and deployment.

docker-compose up

This will:

• Build the Docker image if it doesn't exist
• Start the Django application with Gunicorn
• Apply any pending migrations
• Make the service available at http://localhost:8000

You should see output similar to:

Attaching to web-1
web-1  | Operations to perform:
web-1  |   Apply all migrations: admin, auth, contenttypes, sessions
web-1  | Running migrations:
web-1  |   No migrations to apply.
web-1  | [2025-02-14 02:16:49 +0000] [8] [INFO] Starting gunicorn 21.2.0
web-1  | [2025-02-14 02:16:49 +0000] [8] [INFO] Listening at: http://0.0.0.0:8000 (8)
web-1  | [2025-02-14 02:16:49 +0000] [8] [INFO] Using worker: sync
web-1  | [2025-02-14 02:16:49 +0000] [9] [INFO] Booting worker with pid: 9

Alternative: Manual Setup (without Docker)

If you prefer to run without Docker:

1. Create a Virtual Environment and Install Dependencies

python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

2. Run Migrations

python manage.py migrate

3. Run the Server

python manage.py runserver

API Endpoints

Submit Contact Form

• URL: http://localhost:8000/api/contact/submit/
• Method: POST
• Headers: Content-Type: application/json
• Body:

{
    "name": "Test User",
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "message": "This is a test message!"
}

Example Request

You can use curl to submit a contact form:

curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/api/contact/submit/ \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -d '{
        "name": "Test User",
        "email": "[email protected]",
        "message": "This is a test message!"
    }'

Response

{
    "status": "success",
    "message": "Email sent successfully"
}

Project Structure

SMTP_Django/
├── manage.py
├── Dockerfile
├── docker-compose.yml
├── smtp_django/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── settings.py
│   ├── urls.py
│   ├── wsgi.py
│   ├── asgi.py
├── contact/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── admin.py
│   ├── apps.py
│   ├── models.py
│   ├── serializers.py
│   ├── views.py
│   ├── urls.py
├── .env
├── requirements.txt

Docker Configuration

The project includes Docker configuration files:

• Dockerfile: Defines the container image with Python and required dependencies
• docker-compose.yml: Orchestrates the service deployment with the right environment variables and port mappings

Requirements

The requirements.txt file should include:

Django>=4.2.0
djangorestframework>=3.14.0
python-dotenv>=1.0.0
gunicorn>=21.2.0

Configuration Details

Email Settings

This project uses Django's built-in email functionality with SMTP. The following settings are configured in settings.py:

EMAIL_BACKEND = 'django.core.mail.backends.smtp.EmailBackend'
EMAIL_HOST = os.environ.get('EMAIL_HOST')
EMAIL_PORT = os.environ.get('EMAIL_PORT')
EMAIL_USE_TLS = True
EMAIL_HOST_USER = os.environ.get('EMAIL_HOST_USER')
EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD = os.environ.get('EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD')

Production Deployment

For production deployment:

1. Set DEBUG=False in your .env file
2. Configure a proper database (PostgreSQL recommended)
3. Set up HTTPS using a reverse proxy like Nginx
4. Use Docker Swarm or Kubernetes for orchestration
5. Configure proper email error logging

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

• Email not sending: Check that your SMTP credentials are correct and that your email provider allows SMTP access
• Permission denied: Ensure your app password is correct and that less secure apps are allowed (if applicable)
• Connection errors: Verify that your firewall allows outgoing connections on the SMTP port
• Docker issues: Make sure Docker and Docker Compose are installed correctly and running
• Port conflicts: Ensure that port 8000 is not being used by another service on your host

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.