Step-by-Step Guide to Automating Daily Email Reports with Python. || NauloX

Certainly! To automate sending daily email reports in Python, use the smtplib module to send emails and the schedule library to schedule the script to run every day. Here's a basic script that can serve as a starting point:

1. Install Required Libraries

First, you'll need to install the necessary Python libraries. You can do this using pip.

pip install smtplib email schedule

2. Create an email sending script.

Create a Python script named send_email_report.py. This script will generate an email including a daily report.

import smtplib
from email.mime.multipart import MIMEMultipart
from email.mime.text import MIMEText
import schedule
import time

# Email configuration
SMTP_SERVER = 'smtp.example.com'  # e.g., smtp.gmail.com for Gmail
SMTP_PORT = 587  # For TLS
SMTP_USERNAME = 'your_email@example.com'
SMTP_PASSWORD = 'your_password'
EMAIL_FROM = 'your_email@example.com'
EMAIL_TO = 'recipient_email@example.com'
EMAIL_SUBJECT = 'Daily Report'

# Function to generate the email body
def generate_email_body():
    # Replace this with your report generation logic
    report_content = "This is your daily report."
    return report_content

# Function to send the email
def send_email():
    msg = MIMEMultipart()
    msg['From'] = EMAIL_FROM
    msg['To'] = EMAIL_TO
    msg['Subject'] = EMAIL_SUBJECT

    body = generate_email_body()
    msg.attach(MIMEText(body, 'plain'))

    try:
        server = smtplib.SMTP(SMTP_SERVER, SMTP_PORT)
        server.starttls()
        server.login(SMTP_USERNAME, SMTP_PASSWORD)
        text = msg.as_string()
        server.sendmail(EMAIL_FROM, EMAIL_TO, text)
        server.quit()
        print("Email sent successfully.")
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Failed to send email: {e}")

# Schedule the email to be sent daily at a specific time
schedule.every().day.at("08:00").do(send_email)  # Adjust time as needed

# Run the scheduler
while True:
    schedule.run_pending()
    time.sleep(1)

3. Set up the Scheduler.

The schedule library is used to set up the script to execute at a certain time each day. The script will run in an infinite loop to determine whether or not the scheduled task should be executed.

4. Run the script.

The script can be run manually or programmed to run automatically using a task scheduler.

Run manually.

python send_email_report.py

Run automatically.
You can use a task scheduler such as cron (on Unix systems) or Task Scheduler (on Windows).

For Unix-based systems:

1. Open the crontab file.

crontab -e

2. Add a line to schedule the script to execute on system startup:

@reboot /usr/bin/python3 /path/to/your/send_email_report.py

3, Add a line to schedule the script to run everyday at a certain time (for example, 8 a.m.):

0 8 * * * /usr/bin/python3 /path/to/your/send_email_report.py

For windows:

1. Open the Task Scheduler.
2. Create a new simple task.
3. Set the trigger to occur everyday at your preferred time.
4. Set the action to run a programme and specify where your Python executable and script are located.

Additional Tips:

• Security: Never hardcode your email password into the script. Consider utilising environment variables or a configuration file with appropriate permissions.
• Error Handling: Improve error handling to accommodate various failure circumstances (for example, network difficulties).
• Logging: Use logging to keep track of the script's execution and any errors that occur.

This script sets up a basic structure for sending automated daily email reports. You can add more complex report generating logic, attachment handling, and error management as needed.