Send Emails From Azure Databricks Notebooks With Python

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Send Emails from Azure Databricks Notebooks with Python

Hey data enthusiasts! Ever wanted to automatically send emails from your Azure Databricks notebooks? Maybe you want to notify your team when a job completes, alert someone to an error, or just share some sweet insights directly from your data analysis. Well, you're in luck! This guide will walk you through the process of sending emails from your Databricks notebooks using Python, making your workflows more interactive and efficient. We'll cover everything from setting up your environment to crafting those perfect email notifications. So, let's dive in and see how we can level up your data game!

Setting Up Your Environment: Prerequisites

Before we get our hands dirty with the code, let's make sure our environment is ready. We'll be using Python and a few essential libraries. Here's what you'll need:

  • Azure Databricks Workspace: Make sure you have access to an Azure Databricks workspace. This is where we'll be running our notebooks. If you're new to Azure Databricks, consider checking out their documentation to get started.
  • Python: Python is the language we'll be using to write our scripts. Azure Databricks notebooks support Python natively, so you're good to go!
  • smtplib Library: This is a built-in Python library that allows us to send emails using the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). You don't need to install this; it comes with Python.
  • email Library: Another built-in library, the email module, will help us construct our email messages, including headers, content, and attachments (if any).
  • An SMTP Server: You'll need access to an SMTP server. This could be a personal email account (like Gmail, Outlook, etc.) or a dedicated SMTP server for your organization. Be aware that you might need to configure your email account to allow less secure app access or generate an app password if you're using services like Gmail. I'll show you how to do it in Gmail.

Access Gmail with Less Secure App Access

  1. Go to your Google Account: Sign in to your Gmail account.
  2. Navigate to Security: Click on your profile picture in the top right corner and select "Manage your Google Account." Go to the "Security" tab.
  3. Enable Less Secure App Access (if needed): Scroll down to the "Less secure app access" section. If it's turned off, click on it and toggle the switch to "On." Note: Google recommends using app passwords instead of enabling less secure app access, but for simplicity, we'll use this method. If you are unable to locate the "Less secure app access" setting then create an app password.
  4. Create an App Password: If the previous step is unavailable or you have enabled 2-factor authentication, generate an app password for your Databricks notebook. In the Security section, look for "App passwords" (you might need to enable 2-Step Verification first). Choose "Mail" as the app and generate a password. This password will be used in your script.

Preparing Your Email Account

  • Account Details: You'll need your email address and password (or app password). Keep these handy; we'll use them in our Python script.
  • SMTP Server Information: Know your SMTP server's details. For Gmail, this is smtp.gmail.com and port 587 (with TLS). For other providers, check their documentation for the correct server address and port.

Once you have these prerequisites set up, you're ready to move on to the next step: writing the Python code to send emails.

Python Code for Sending Emails

Alright, let's get down to the fun part: writing the Python code that sends those emails! This section will walk you through creating a simple email sending script, and we'll break down each part to make sure you understand what's happening. Here's the basic structure of the code:

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

# Email configuration
sender_email = "your_email@gmail.com"
receiver_email = "recipient_email@example.com"
password = "your_password"

# Create a multipart message and set headers
message = MIMEMultipart()
message["From"] = sender_email
message["To"] = receiver_email
message["Subject"] = "Email from Azure Databricks"

# Add body to email
body = "This is a test email sent from Azure Databricks!" 
message.attach(MIMEText(body, "plain"))

# Create SMTP session for sending the mail
try:
    server = smtplib.SMTP("smtp.gmail.com", 587)
    server.starttls()
    server.login(sender_email, password)
    text = message.as_string()
    server.sendmail(sender_email, receiver_email, text)
    server.quit()
    print("Email sent successfully!")
except Exception as e:
    print(f"Error sending email: {e}")

Code Breakdown

  1. Import Necessary Libraries:
    • smtplib: This is the workhorse that handles the SMTP communication, allowing us to connect to the email server and send the message.
    • email.mime.text.MIMEText: This class creates the body of your email, where you'll put your message content.
    • email.mime.multipart.MIMEMultipart: This class creates a container for our email, which allows us to include multiple parts, like the text body and attachments.
  2. Configure Email Settings:
    • sender_email: Your email address (the one you're sending from).
    • receiver_email: The recipient's email address.
    • password: Your email account's password (or app password). Important: For security, avoid hardcoding your password in the script. Consider using Databricks secrets or environment variables to store your password securely.
  3. Compose the Email:
    • message = MIMEMultipart(): Creates a multipart message object.
    • message["From"], message["To"], message["Subject"]: Sets the email headers (from, to, and subject).
    • body = "Your email body": Defines the body of the email. You can make this as long or as complex as you need.
    • message.attach(MIMEText(body, "plain")): Attaches the body to the email. The "plain" argument indicates that the email body is plain text.
  4. Send the Email:
    • server = smtplib.SMTP("smtp.gmail.com", 587): Creates an SMTP object and connects to the Gmail SMTP server on port 587 (which uses TLS encryption).
    • server.starttls(): Starts the TLS encryption. This encrypts the communication between your script and the email server, protecting your credentials.
    • server.login(sender_email, password): Logs in to your email account using your email address and password.
    • text = message.as_string(): Converts the email message to a string format that can be sent over the network.
    • server.sendmail(sender_email, receiver_email, text): Sends the email. The sendmail method takes the sender's email, the recipient's email, and the email message as arguments.
    • server.quit(): Closes the connection to the SMTP server.
  5. Error Handling:
    • The try...except block handles potential errors. If anything goes wrong during the email sending process (e.g., incorrect credentials, network issues), the except block will catch the exception and print an error message. This is crucial for debugging and ensuring your script runs smoothly.

Running the Code

  1. Open your Databricks notebook.
  2. Paste the code into a cell.
  3. Update the email configuration: Replace `