Tweeting my External IP Address from Ubuntu Server

In my previous post I described the problems I encountered while trying to configure my Ubuntu Server to be able to send emails via a the command line (in my case it was actually via a script). The reason I wanted to do this was so that I could run the script on a scheduled basis to check my external IP address and notify me when it changed.
Why? Well my ISP has provided me with a dynamic IP address which changes on a periodic basis – not that I normally notice. Well if I want to be able to administrate my Ubuntu Server from outside my local network, i.e. over the Internet via SSH, then I need to know the outward facing IP address of my router.
I had already found a script to do this and tweaked it a little to run under a non-admin user but while it could detect the change I needed some mechanism for it to tell me. After a fruitless evening trying to set up email I gave up and decided to use the Twitter API instead.
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Command Line EMail on Ubuntu Server Failed – Tweeting Instead

Now that my Ubuntu Server is up and running and configured for the network I want to be able to remotely access it via SSH. Now that’s easy, even for me. I have OpenSSH installed and my router configured and it works like a charm. The problem is that I don’t have a static IP address from my ISP so periodically I will be assigned with a new one – so how do i know what it is at any point in time? Answer, I don’t. So after browsing around I found a script that would resolve my external IP address and email it to me. Brilliant! Everything was working up to the point where it needed to send the email.

Well I didn’t think it would be that difficult – I just wanted to be able to configure the system so that it could send me an email via the script. I found a few tutorials on the web and decided to follow one which boasted to be able to complete the setup in just 5 steps. There was even a comment from someone saying ‘Thanks, it worked where others didn’t’ – well it didn’t for me. Why is it so difficult?
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