headnode notifier

Simple script for sending emails.

Usage examples

usage: headnode_notifier [address] [OPTION]

Simple script for email notifications. Uses gmail by default.

positional arguments:
                    Recipient address

optional arguments:
  -h, --help        show this help message and exit
  -v, --version     show program's version number and exit
  --subject         Message subject
  --body            Message body
  --attach          Attachment
  --serv-addr       Server address. Default <smtp.gmail.com>
  --port            Server's port. Default: <587>
  --from-addr       Account address.
  --password-file   Read password from exeternal file. Prevents hard-coding
                    password anywhere in this script. IMPORTANT! Password is
                    stored as plain text! Do NOT use with your personal
                    account!

Let's assume you are using default account and you have password file in a proper place

You can specify the message subject, content and attach a file.

headnode_notifier.py recipient@domain.com --subject 'Important message' --body 'Hello there!' --attach ./some/file.zip

You can also send just blank message, only recipient@domain.com is truly obligatory if using default values for the rest.

You can specify server, port and else if you wish with --serv-addr smpt.provider.com --port 42 --from-addr my.address@provider.com

Config handling

If an option is not specified in the CLI, it is read from the headnode_notifier.config file. It is meant to facilitate the usage by setting default values for:

1. Server address.
2. Port.
3. Mailbox address
4. /path/to/password_file

• Config content:

[server]
address = smtp.gmail.com
port = 587

[mailbox]
address =
password_file =

• Config location: $HOME

• Config name:

.headnode_notifier.config

Password handling

In order to avoid storing the password anywhere in the script, it is read from file. You can specify the path using --password-file /path/to/file or in the config file. Remember that the password file is plain text so use the script with caution.

Using gmail

Remember to allow less secure apps to connect if using gmail. You can set it on google account security page