More PowerShell Mail Solutions
In this issue:
It is the start of a new month, but we have some left-over business to attend to. At the end of last month I started sharing my solution for the May PowerShell scripting challenge. I demonstrated how to use the [System.Net.Mail.SmtpClient] class to send a mail message.
> If you are just joining us, I know that this class isn't recommended for production use and there are solutions you can use. But, there is no problem in using this class as a learning device. The whole point of the challenge is to create a set of PowerShell tools around a .NET class you may not know much about.
I left you with some code that met the initial challenge requirements. But I challenged you with much more. Let's tackle those items today.
System.Net.Mail.MailMessage
To meet the other challenge requirements, we will need to use the [System.Net.Mail.MailMessage] .NET class. Once again, Get-TypeMember from the PSScriptTools module is very helpful in exploring this class.
MailMessage Constructors
I can also discover how to create an instance of the object.
Creating a a simple message doesn't look that difficult.
$to = 'jhicks91@yahoo.com'
$from = 'jhicks@jdhitsolutions.com'
$subject = 'MailMessage Demo'
$Body = @"
This is a test message sent using the System.Net.Mail classes
from a PowerShell session.
$(Get-Date)
"@
$msg = [System.Net.Mail.MailMessage]::new($from, $to, $subject, $body)
Looking at the object I can already see how I can use it.
PS C:\> $msg
From : jhicks@jdhitsolutions.com
Sender :
ReplyTo :
ReplyToList : {}
To : {jhicks91@yahoo.com}
Bcc : {}
CC : {}
Priority : Normal
DeliveryNotificationOptions : None
Subject : MailMessage Demo
SubjectEncoding :
Headers : {}
HeadersEncoding :
Body : This is a test message sent using the System.Net.Mail classes
from a PowerShell session.
06/30/2026 12:03:00
BodyEncoding : System.Text.ASCIIEncoding+ASCIIEncodingSealed
BodyTransferEncoding : Unknown
IsBodyHtml : False
Attachments : {}
AlternateViews : {}
Sending the MailMessage
One important thing I see is that this class is only about the message. There is no provision to send it.
PS C:\> $msg | Get-Member -MemberType Method
TypeName: System.Net.Mail.MailMessage
Name MemberType Definition
---- ---------- ----------
Dispose Method void Dispose(), void IDisposable.Dispose()
Equals Method bool Equals(System.Object obj)
GetHashCode Method int GetHashCode()
GetType Method type GetType()
ToString Method string ToString()
For that, I still need the [System.Net.Mail.SmtpClient] class.
#values from previously defined variables
$mc = [System.Net.Mail.SmtpClient]::new($mailHost, $SmtpPort)
$mc.EnableSsl = $True
$mc.credentials = $Credential
Now I can send the message.
$mc.send($msg)
