RFC 788 (rfc788) - Page 1 of 62
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
RFC 788
SIMPLE MAIL TRANSFER PROTOCOL
Jonathan B. Postel
November 1981
Information Sciences Institute
University of Southern California
4676 Admiralty Way
Marina del Rey, California 90291
(213) 822-1511
RFC 788 November 1981
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION .................................................. 1
2. THE SMTP MODEL ................................................ 2
3. THE SMTP PROCEDURE ............................................ 4
3.1. Mail ..................................................... 4
3.2. Forwarding ............................................... 7
3.3. Verifying and Expanding .................................. 8
3.4. Sending and Mailing ..................................... 10
3.5. Opening and Closing ..................................... 12
3.6. Relaying ................................................ 13
3.7. Domains ................................................. 15
4. THE SMTP SPECIFICATIONS ...................................... 16
4.1. SMTP Commands ........................................... 16
4.1.1. Command Semantics ..................................... 16
4.1.2. Command Syntax ........................................ 23
4.2. SMTP Replies ............................................ 28
4.2.1. Reply Codes by Function Group ......................... 29
4.2.2. Reply Codes in Numeric Order .......................... 30
4.3. Sequencing of Commands and Replies ...................... 31
4.4. State Diagrams .......................................... 33
4.5. Details ................................................. 35
4.5.1. Minimum Implementation ................................ 35
4.5.2. Transparency .......................................... 35
4.5.3. Sizes ................................................. 36
APPENDIX A: TCP ................................................. 38
APPENDIX B: NCP ................................................. 39
APPENDIX C: NITS ................................................ 40
APPENDIX D: X.25 ................................................ 41
APPENDIX E: Theory of Reply Codes ............................... 42
APPENDIX F: Scenarios ........................................... 45
GLOSSARY ......................................................... 58
REFERENCES ....................................................... 61
Network Working Group J. Postel
Request for Comments: 788 ISI
Replaces: RFC 780, 772 November 1981
SIMPLE MAIL TRANSFER PROTOCOL
1. INTRODUCTION
The objective of Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is to transfer
mail reliably and efficiently.
SMTP is independent of the particular transmission subsystem and
requires only a reliable ordered data stream channel. Appendices A,
B, C, and D describe the use of SMTP with various transport services.
A Glossary provides the definitions of terms as used in this
document.
An important feature of SMTP is its capability to relay mail across
transport service environments. A transport service provides an
interprocess communication environment (IPCE). An IPCE may cover one
network, several networks, or a subset of a network. It is important
to realize that transport systems (or IPCEs) are not one-to-one with
networks. A process can communicate directly with another process
through any mutually known IPCE. Mail is an application or use of
interprocess communication. Mail can be communicated between
processes in different IPCEs by relaying through a process connected
to two (or more) IPCEs. More specifically, mail can be relayed
between hosts on different transport systems by a host on both
transport systems.
Postel
