SQL Server Database Mail Setup

Recently, I have configured database mail in SQL Server 2008. Here, I am sharing what I have learnt and how did I configure this powerful feature of sending mail in SQL server 2008.

Database mail feature was introduced in SQL server 2005 by Microsoft. This feature is also available in SQL Server 2008 and 2012. Before Database mail we have SQL Mail feature in Sql Server 2000.

Database Mail is more reliable, secure, faster than SQL Mail in SQL Server 2000. SQL Mail is based on MAPI (Messaging Application Programming Interface) where as Database Mail is based on SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. Moreover database mail uses service broker service and this service need to be enabled for Database Mail.

By default, SQL Database mail is not enabled. We can enable this feature by using system defined stored procedure, configuration manager or by Database Mail Wizard. I am sharing both the tricks to enable this feature.

Setup SQL Database Mail

We can configure SQL Database mail in following steps by using Database mail wizard as show below.

1. Create Profile and Account

   In first step we will create a profile and account by using the Configure Database Mail Wizard as shown below.
              
   A profile can have multiple email accounts. It can be of two types.

   1. Public Profile

      A public profile can be accessed by any users and these users will have the ability to send emails.

   2. Private Profile

      A private profile only accessed by granted users and only these users have the ability to send emails.

2. Configure Database Mail

   After successfully creation of Profile and Account, we will configure the Database Mail using system defined stored procedure “sp_configure ” as shown below.

   
    GO 
   sp_CONFIGURE Database Mail XPs', 1 
   GO 
   RECONFIGURE 
   
   

3. Send Test Mail

   We can send test mail by using wizard and T-SQL statement as shown below.
   Using Wizard
     
   Using T-SQL Statement

   
    USE msdb 
   GO 
   EXEC sp_send_dbmail @profile_name='Shailendra Chauhan Profile', @recipients='shailendra@ymail.com', @subject='Database Mail Test', @body= ‘This is a test e-mail sent from Database Mail' 
   
   

4. Check Your Inbox

   After sending test mail, you need to check the mail received in your inbox. I received the mail "Database Mail Test" in my inbox as shown below:
   

Summary

In this article I try to explain how to setup SQL Database Mail in Sql Server with example. I hope after reading this article you will be know how to configure SQL Database Mail in Sql Server. I would like to have feedback from my blog readers. Please post your feedback, question, or comments about this article.