Manual: apachectl

apache2ctl(8)					   System Manager's Manual				       apache2ctl(8)

NAME
       apache2ctl - Apache HTTP server control interface

SYNOPSIS
       When acting in SysV init mode, apache2ctl takes simple, one-word commands, defined below.

       apachectl command

       apache2ctl command

       When acting in pass-through mode, apache2ctl can take all the arguments available for the httpd binary.

       apachectl [httpd-argument]

       apache2ctl [httpd-argument]

DESCRIPTION
       apache2ctl is a front end to the Apache HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) server.  It is designed to help the admin‐
       istrator control the functioning of the Apache apache2 daemon.

       NOTE:  The  default  Debian  configuration  requires the environment variables APACHE_RUN_USER, APACHE_RUN_GROUP, and
       APACHE_PID_FILE to be set in /etc/apache2/envvars.

       The apache2ctl script returns a 0 exit value on success, and >0 if an error occurs.  For more details, view the	com‐
       ments in the script.

OPTIONS
       The command can be any one or more of the following options:

       start	     Start the Apache daemon.  Gives an error if it is already running.

       stop	     Stops the Apache daemon.

       restart	     Restarts  the Apache daemon by sending it a SIGHUP.  If the daemon is not running, it is started.	This
		     command automatically checks the configuration files via configtest before initiating the restart to to
		     catch  the	 most obvious  errors.	However, it is still possible for the daemon to die because of prob‐
		     lems with the configuration.

       fullstatus    Displays a full status report from mod_status.  For this to work, you need to have	 mod_status  enabled
		     on	 your server and a text-based browser such as lynx available on your system.  The URL used to access
		     the status report can be set by setting the APACHE_STATUSURL variable in /etc/apache2/envvars.

       status	     Displays a brief status report. Similar to the fullstatus option, except that the list of requests cur‐
		     rently being served is omitted.

       graceful	     Gracefully restarts the Apache daemon by sending it a SIGUSR1.  If the daemon is  not  running,  it  is
		     started.	This  differs  from  a normal restart in that currently open connections are not aborted.  A
		     side effect is that old log files will not be closed immediately.	This means that if used in a log ro‐
		     tation script, a substantial delay may be necessary to ensure that the old log files are closed  before
		     processing	 them.	 This command automatically checks the configuration files via apache2ctl configtest
		     before initiating the restart to to catch the most obvious errors.	 However, it is still  possible	 for
		     the daemon to die because of problems with the configuration.

       graceful-stop Gracefully	 stops the Apache httpd daemon.	 This differs from a normal stop in that currently open con‐
		     nections are not aborted.	A side effect is that old log files will not be closed immediately.

       configtest    Run a configuration file syntax test. It parses the configuration files and either reports Syntax Ok or
		     information about the particular syntax error. This test does not catch all errors.

       help	     Displays a short help message.

       The following option was available in earlier versions but has been removed.

       startssl	     To start httpd with SSL support, you should edit your configuration file to include the relevant direc‐
		     tives and then use the normal apache2ctl start.

ENVIRONMENT
       The behaviour  of  apache2ctl  can  be  influenced  with	 these	environment  variables:	 APACHE_HTTPD,	APACHE_LYNX,
       APACHE_STATUSURL,   APACHE_ULIMIT_MAX_FILES,   APACHE_RUN_DIR,  APACHE_LOCK_DIR,	 APACHE_RUN_USER,  APACHE_ARGUMENTS,
       APACHE_ENVVARS.	See the comments in the script for details.  These variables (except APACHE_ENVVARS) can be  set  in
       /etc/apache2/envvars.

SEE ALSO
       apache2(8), /usr/share/doc/apache2/README.Debian.gz

							 April 2008					       apache2ctl(8)