mail: cannot send message: Process exited with a non-zero status

I have setup mailutils and ssmtp in my Ubuntu system. I have configured /etc/ssmtp/ssmtp.conf with proper credentials.

For testing I ran this command

echo "This is a test" | mail -s "Test" mygmailid

but I'm getting an error:

mail: cannot send message: Process exited with a non-zero status

I do have special characters in my password.

1 Answer

You can not use external applications with your normal password, you must go to and create a special password to use with your mail sender.