On macOS, if we want to forward local email to an external account on Gmail, e.g. for crontab results or other automation, we can use the default postfix server and just reconfigure it to deliver the mails externally.
Note: this assumes local usernames match the user part of the email.
On /etc/postfix/main.cf add the following lines:
myorigin = <enter your public domain here>
relayhost = [smtp.gmail.com]:587
smtp_sasl_auth_enable = yes
smtp_sasl_password_maps = hash:/etc/postfix/sasl_passwd
smtp_sasl_security_options = noanonymous
smtp_sasl_mechanism_filter = login
smtp_use_tls = yes
Generate a dedicated app password on Google Account's page at myaccount.google.com/apppasswords.
On /etc/postfix/sasl_passwd add your username and the dedicated app password:
[smtp.gmail.com]:587 <your email>:<password>
Protect the /etc/postfix/sasl_passwd:
sudo chmod 600 /etc/postfix/sasl_passwd
Update the postfix password file:
sudo postmap /etc/postfix/sasl_passwd
Restart postfix:
sudo launchctl stop org.postfix.master
sudo launchctl start org.postfix.master
Look at the logs to confirm the service is working properly:
sudo log stream --predicate '(process == "smtpd") || (process == "smtp")' --info &
Send a test email:
echo Hello World | mail -s "Test Subject" <my email>
Check for queued emails:
sudo mailq
Clear the queue in case of pending emails due to tests or bad configuration:
sudo postfix flush