Java application is unable to send out JavaMail with error: "AuthenticationFailedException: No authentication mechansims supported by both server and client"

Solution Unverified - Updated -

Environment

  • Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (EAP)
    • 6.x
    • 7.x

Issue

Our Java application deployed on JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (EAP) 6 cannot send out mail with JavaMail.
We use "Sendmail" as SMTP server on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
The exception stacktrace on JBoss EAP side looks like this:

nested exception is javax.mail.AuthenticationFailedException: No authentication mechansims supported by both server and client
org.springframework.mail.MailAuthenticationException: Authentication failed; nested exception is javax.mail.AuthenticationFailedException: No authentication mechansims supported by both server and client
        at org.springframework.mail.javamail.JavaMailSenderImpl.doSend(JavaMailSenderImpl.java:392) ~[spring-context-support-3.0.6.RELEASE.jar:3.0.6.RELEASE]
        at org.springframework.mail.javamail.JavaMailSenderImpl.send(JavaMailSenderImpl.java:306) ~[spring-context-support-3.0.6.RELEASE.jar:3.0.6.RELEASE]
        at org.springframework.mail.javamail.JavaMailSenderImpl.send(JavaMailSenderImpl.java:296) ~[spring-context-support-3.0.6.RELEASE.jar:3.0.6.RELEASE]
******
Caused by: javax.mail.AuthenticationFailedException: No authentication mechansims supported by both server and client
        at com.sun.mail.smtp.SMTPTransport.authenticate(SMTPTransport.java:756) ~[mail-1.4.4-redhat-1.jar!/:1.4.4-redhat-1]
        at com.sun.mail.smtp.SMTPTransport.protocolConnect(SMTPTransport.java:669) ~[mail-1.4.4-redhat-1.jar!/:1.4.4-redhat-1]
        at javax.mail.Service.connect(Service.java:295) ~[mail-1.4.4-redhat-1.jar!/:1.4.4-redhat-1]

And there is no log at all on "Sendmail" SMTP server side.

Diagnostic Steps

  • Increase logging level for SMTP server
    If you are using "Sendmail" in RHEL please follow article: How to debug sendmail and increase the log level? to increase logging level and try to get some more logs on Sendmail side.

  • Check if SMTP server requires authentication

    • If authentication is not required on SMTP server side, please try to remove any username/password settings on mail client side (within Java application) and use mail.smtp.auth=false
    • If SMTP server does require authentication, please try to set mail.smtp.auth=true and use correct username/password to connect.

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