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Visual Basic 6.0

IMAP SSH Tunneling (Port Forwarding)

Demonstrates how to setup and use an SSH tunnel for IMAP.

Chilkat Visual Basic 6.0 Downloads

Visual Basic 6.0
Dim success As Long
success = 0

' This example assumes the Chilkat API to have been previously unlocked.
' See Global Unlock Sample for sample code.

Dim imap As New ChilkatImap

' The SSH hostname may be a hostname or an 
' IP address, such as "192.168.1.108".
' The port is typically 22 (the standard port for SSH).
Dim sshHostname As String
sshHostname = "www.mysshserver.com"
Dim sshPort As Long
sshPort = 22

' Connect to an SSH server and establish the SSH tunnel:
success = imap.SshOpenTunnel(sshHostname,sshPort)
If (success = 0) Then
    Debug.Print imap.LastErrorText
    Exit Sub
End If

' Authenticate with the SSH server via a login/password
' or with a public key.
' This example demonstrates SSH password authentication.
' Note: This is not authenticating with the IMAP server, it is
' for authenticating with the SSH server, which is separate.
success = imap.SshAuthenticatePw("mySshLogin","mySshPassword")
If (success = 0) Then
    Debug.Print imap.LastErrorText
    Exit Sub
End If

' OK, the SSH tunnel is setup.  The IMAP component may
' be used exactly the same as usual, except all communications
' are sent through the SSH tunnel.

' Connect to an IMAP server via the SSH tunnel.
' Because the SSH tunnel has been previously setup,
' this does not establish a direct connection with the IMAP
' server.  It directs the SSH server to establish the connection.

' In this example, the IMAP server requires SSL/TLS.  The TLS connection
' will be enclosed within the SSH tunnel.
imap.Ssl = 1
imap.Port = 993
success = imap.Connect("imap.my-imap-server.com")
If (success = 0) Then
    Debug.Print imap.LastErrorText
    Exit Sub
End If

' Authenticate with the IMAP server via the SSH tunnel.
success = imap.Login("myLogin","myPassword")
If (success = 0) Then
    Debug.Print imap.LastErrorText
    Exit Sub
End If

' Select an IMAP mailbox
success = imap.SelectMailbox("Inbox")
If (success = 0) Then
    Debug.Print imap.LastErrorText
    Exit Sub
End If

' How many messages in Inbox?
Dim msgCount As Long
msgCount = imap.NumMessages
If (msgCount = 0) Then
    Debug.Print "No messages found."
    Exit Sub
End If

Dim upperBound As Long
upperBound = 10
If (msgCount < upperBound) Then
    upperBound = msgCount
End If

' Download up to the 1st 10 messages.
Dim email As New ChilkatEmail
Dim i As Long
Dim bUid As Long
bUid = 0
For i = 1 To upperBound

    success = imap.FetchEmail(0,i,bUid,email)
    If (success = 0) Then
        Debug.Print imap.LastErrorText
        Exit Sub
    End If

    Debug.Print email.From
    Debug.Print email.Subject
    Debug.Print "----"
Next

' Disconnect from the IMAP server.
' The SSH tunnel remains open.
success = imap.Disconnect()
If (success = 0) Then
    Debug.Print imap.LastErrorText
    Exit Sub
End If

' It is possible to re-use the existing SSH tunnel for the next connection:
success = imap.Connect("imap.my-imap-server2.com")
If (success = 0) Then
    Debug.Print imap.LastErrorText
    Exit Sub
End If

' Review the LastErrorText to see that the connection was made via the SSH tunnel:
Debug.Print imap.LastErrorText

success = imap.Disconnect()
If (success = 0) Then
    Debug.Print imap.LastErrorText
    Exit Sub
End If

' Finally, close the SSH tunnel.
success = imap.SshCloseTunnel()
If (success = 0) Then
    Debug.Print imap.LastErrorText
    Exit Sub
End If

Debug.Print "IMAP SSH tunneling example completed."