Getting mail from GMail into Java application using IMAP

Dave_2512222 0
Viewed 105471

I want to access messages in Gmail from a Java application using JavaMail and IMAP. Why am I getting a SocketTimeoutException ?

Here is my code:

Properties props = System.getProperties();
props.setProperty("mail.imap.host", "imap.gmail.com");
props.setProperty("mail.imap.port", "993");
props.setProperty("mail.imap.connectiontimeout", "5000");
props.setProperty("mail.imap.timeout", "5000");

try {
    Session session = Session.getDefaultInstance(props, new MyAuthenticator());
    URLName urlName = new URLName("imap://MYUSERNAME@gmail.com:MYPASSWORD@imap.gmail.com");
    Store store = session.getStore(urlName);
    if (!store.isConnected()) {
        store.connect();
    }
} catch (NoSuchProviderException e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
    System.exit(1);
} catch (MessagingException e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
    System.exit(2);
}

I have set the timeout values so that it wouldn't take "forever" to timeout. Also, MyAuthenticator also has the username and password, which seems redundant with the URL. Is there another way to specify the protocol? (I didn't see it in the JavaDoc for IMAP.)

jakarta-mail imap gmail java
10 Answers

Using imaps was a great suggestion. Neither of the answers provided just worked for me, so I googled some more and found something that worked. Here's how my code looks now.

Properties props = System.getProperties();
props.setProperty("mail.store.protocol", "imaps");
try {
  Session session = Session.getDefaultInstance(props, null);
  Store store = session.getStore("imaps");
  store.connect("imap.gmail.com", "<username>@gmail.com", "<password>");
  ...
} catch (NoSuchProviderException e) {
  e.printStackTrace();
  System.exit(1);
} catch (MessagingException e) {
  e.printStackTrace();
  System.exit(2);
}

This is nice because it takes the redundant Authenticator out of the picture. I'm glad this worked because the SSLNOTES.txt make my head spin.

Dave_25122220

You need to use the following properties for imaps:

props.setProperty("mail.imaps.host", "imap.gmail.com");
props.setProperty("mail.imaps.port", "993");
props.setProperty("mail.imaps.connectiontimeout", "5000");
props.setProperty("mail.imaps.timeout", "5000");

Notices it's "imaps", not "imap", since the protocol you're using is imaps (IMAP + SSL)

user_1075100

In JavaMail, you can use imaps as the URL scheme to use IMAP over SSL. (See SSLNOTES.txt in your JavaMail distribution for more details.) For example, imaps://username%40gmail.com@imap.gmail.com/INBOX.

Similarly, use smtps to send emails via Gmail. e.g., smtps://username%40gmail.com@smtp.gmail.com/. Again, read SSLNOTES.txt for more details. Hope it helps!

user_130

You have to connect to GMail using SSL only. Setting the following properties will force that for you. 

props.setProperty("mail.imap.socketFactory.class", "javax.net.ssl.SSLSocketFactory");
props.setProperty("mail.imap.socketFactory.fallback", "false");
bmatthews68_19690

If you'd like more sample code on using JavaMail with Gmail (e.g. converting Gmail labels to IMAP folder names, or using IMAP IDLE), do check out my program GmailAssistant on SourceForge.

Zach_Scrivena_200290
user_110920

I used following properties to get the store and It works well.

"mail.imaps.host" : "imap.gmail.com"
"mail.store.protocol" : "imaps"
"mail.imaps.port" : "993"

user_2218470 
URLName server = new URLName("imaps://<gmail-user-name>:<gmail-pass>@imap.gmail.com/INBOX");
Admin1
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