A python app for e-mailing yourself the top 5 trending posts in subreddits of your choice.
This is a very simple Python script for sending yourself something interesting to read in the morning. If you're not sure where or how to create a Reddit app in order to get this working, please follow this link: https://www.reddit.com/prefs/apps
In order to create an app password via Google, simply click-through into your security settings, and find the App Password option.
Presto!
Now, assuming you're on Mac or Linux, open a terminal and type
crontab -e
Use Nano, it's the best, and easiest Linux text editor. No, I won't accept any criticism for saying that.
Now, once you're inside, type in this
0 9 * * * /usr/bin/python3 /path/to/your_script.py
And, of course, you can change this to your liking, and add whatever you want!
Troubleshooting:
In order for this to work, you'll need the Python Reddit API Wrapper, or "Praw",
pip install praw
and a way to send email from your host machine. I use Postfix. In your Postfix configuration, make sure to setup TLS configuration, and your app password in a 'sasl_passwd' file.
For example
relayhost = [smtp.gmail.com]:587
smtp_sasl_auth_enable = yes
smtp_sasl_password_maps = hash:/etc/postfix/sasl_passwd
smtp_sasl_security_options = noanonymous
smtp_tls_security_level = encrypt
smtp_tls_CAfile = /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt
Your app password in the sasl file would look like this
[smtp.gmail.com]:587 [email protected]:your_app_password
and then make sure permissions are set correctly
sudo chmod 600 /etc/postfix/sasl_passwd /etc/postfix/sasl_passwd.db
An example configuration setup would look like this
smtpd_relay_restrictions = permit_mynetworks permit_sasl_authenticated defer_unauth_destination
myhostname = your_os.router.home
alias_maps = hash:/etc/aliases
alias_database = hash:/etc/aliases
myorigin = /etc/mailname
mydestination = $myhostname, localhost, localhost.localdomain
relayhost = [smtp.gmail.com]:587
smtp_sasl_auth_enable = yes
smtp_sasl_password_maps = hash:/etc/postfix/sasl_passwd
smtp_sasl_security_options = noanonymous
smtp_sasl_mechanism_filter = plain, login
smtp_tls_security_level = encrypt
smtp_tls_CAfile = /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt
mynetworks = 127.0.0.0/8 [::ffff:127.0.0.0]/104 [::1]/128
mailbox_size_limit = 0
recipient_delimiter = +
inet_interfaces = all
inet_protocols = ipv4
Note: I did some troubleshooting and it seems you need to set protocols to ipv4, or it may not work.
After you've made changes to Postfix, make sure you run
sudo systemctl restart postfix
If it's still not working for you, you may need to install the SASL Authentication Library, do this
sudo apt-get install libsasl2-modules sasl2-bin
Then
sudo nano /etc/postfix/sasl/smtpd.conf
And add these lines to the configuration file you've just opened
pwcheck_method: saslauthd
mech_list: plain login
After making these changes (if you needed them), run these commands
sudo systemctl restart postfix
sudo systemctl restart saslauthd
Send yourself a test e-mail to ensure all of this is working, by running this command
echo "Test email" | mail -s "SASL Test" [email protected]
Watch logs with the command
sudo tail -f /var/log/mail.log
If you're not getting any logs, or terminal is throwing a 'not found' command, do this
sudo nano /etc/rsyslog.d/50-default.conf
Ensure this line is there
mail.* -/var/log/mail.log
If it isn't, add it.
Then, run this command
sudo systemctl restart rsyslog
Now, open the Postfix config again. If you've forgotten how to do that, run
nano /etc/postfix/main.cf
Ensure this line exists
maillog_file = /var/log/mail.log
If it doesn't, add it, then save, and restart Postfix again, and give a test e-mail a shot.
If you had to run through all of these steps, and you want to confirm that the_daily_report is working, open crontab and adjust the time at which the e-mail should be sent, and then check your e-mail.
Here's what mine looks like
