Linux Journal: E-mail as a System Console, Parts I and II

From Part I:

“Question: How can I get access to my home Linux system when I’m
1)at work behind a firewall that only allows me to send e-mail from
my workstation or 2)away on a business trip and the hotel firewall
only allows me to surf the Web?

“Answer: Create an e-mail-based console application that let’s
you execute commands and return results via e-mail. If you’re stuck
with only web access, get a web e-mail account somewhere and use it
to send commands over e-mail to your system at home. The e-mail
console is a nice way to communicate with your system when normal
communications (Telnet, ssh, FTP, what-have-you) are not
available.

“Have you ever been sitting around at work and wished you could
execute a command on your home Linux system to find some
information? I have and I bet you could find lots of reasons why
you would want to do this as well. E-mail is simple, yet powerful.
But can it be used as a console to your home Linux system? You bet!
I use it all the time…”

Complete Story (Part I)

Complete Story (Part II)