SMTP TLS does not work for gmail

I would like to write a program which connects with the gmail server using SMTP TLS. I am using the code mentioned on this page :

http://www.mkyong.com/java/javamail-api-sending-email-via-gmail-smtp-example/

I am getting connection time out exception. I can succefully send email if I use SMTP SSL.

public void sendUsingSMTP_TLS() {
    final String username = "[email protected]";
    final String password = "password";

    Properties props = new Properties();
    props.put("mail.smtp.auth", "true");
    props.put("mail.smtp.starttls.enable", "true");
    props.put("mail.smtp.host", "smtp.gmail.com");
    props.put("mail.smtp.port", "587");

    Session session = Session.getInstance(props,
      new javax.mail.Authenticator() {
        protected PasswordAuthentication getPasswordAuthentication() {
            return new PasswordAuthentication(username, password);
        }
      });

    try {

        Message message = new MimeMessage(session);
        message.setFrom(new InternetAddress("[email protected]"));
        message.setRecipients(Message.RecipientType.TO,
            InternetAddress.parse("[email protected]"));
        message.setSubject("Testing Subject");
        message.setText("Dear Mail Crawler,"
            + "\n\n No spam to my email, please!");

        Transport.send(message);

        System.out.println("Done");

    } catch (MessagingException e) {
        throw new RuntimeException(e);
    }
}

I get following exception:

 Exception in thread “main” java.lang.RuntimeException: javax.mail.MessagingException:              
Could not connect to SMTP host: smtp.gmail.com, port: 587;
nested exception is:
java.net.ConnectException: Connection timed out: connect
at SMTP_TLS.main(SMTP_TLS.java:48)
Caused by: javax.mail.MessagingException: Could not connect to SMTP host: smtp.gmail.com, port: 587;
nested exception is:
java.net.ConnectException: Connection timed out: connect
at com.sun.mail.smtp.SMTPTransport.openServer(SMTPTransport.java:1961)
at com.sun.mail.smtp.SMTPTransport.protocolConnect(SMTPTransport.java:654)
at javax.mail.Service.connect(Service.java:317)
at javax.mail.Service.connect(Service.java:176)
at javax.mail.Service.connect(Service.java:125)
at javax.mail.Transport.send0(Transport.java:253)
at javax.mail.Transport.send(Transport.java:124)
at SMTP_TLS.main(SMTP_TLS.java:43)
Caused by: java.net.ConnectException: Connection timed out: connect
at java.net.DualStackPlainSocketImpl.connect0(Native Method)
at java.net.DualStackPlainSocketImpl.socketConnect(DualStackPlainSocketImpl.java:69)
at java.net.AbstractPlainSocketImpl.doConnect(AbstractPlainSocketImpl.java:339)
at java.net.AbstractPlainSocketImpl.connectToAddress(AbstractPlainSocketImpl.java:200)
at java.net.AbstractPlainSocketImpl.connect(AbstractPlainSocketImpl.java:182)
at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.connect(PlainSocketImpl.java:157)
at java.net.SocksSocketImpl.connect(SocksSocketImpl.java:391)
at java.net.Socket.connect(Socket.java:579)
at java.net.Socket.connect(Socket.java:528)
at com.sun.mail.util.SocketFetcher.createSocket(SocketFetcher.java:299)
at com.sun.mail.util.SocketFetcher.getSocket(SocketFetcher.java:234)
at com.sun.mail.smtp.SMTPTransport.openServer(SMTPTransport.java:1927)
… 7 more

Solution

The exception means that you are unable to connect to port 587 on server smtp.gmail.com . Verify this using telnet:

telnet smtp.gmail.com 587

(This works for me, so the server and port number are correct.)

Possible reasons for this to do not work from your location are:

Misconfigured proxy settings in Java
A firewall at your location, which forbids to connect to this port number.

If the telnet command above can connect, then you can rule out a problem with the firewall. But if it does not work and you are in a company network, then it's most likely the firewall which causes the problem.

Also, find out the port number which is used with your other connection method. Maybe that also works with TLS.