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 com-
       mands, 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  administrator  control  the
       functioning of the Apache apache2 daemon.

       NOTE:  The  default Debian configuration requires the environment vari-
       ables 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 comments 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 con-
                     figtest 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 configura-
                     tion.

       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 currently being
                     served is omitted.

       graceful      Gracefully restarts the Apache daemon by sending it a SI-
                     GUSR1.   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 rotation script, a substantial de-
                     lay may be necessary to ensure that the old log files are
                     closed  before  processing  them.  This command automati-
                     cally checks the configuration files via apache2ctl  con-
                     figtest  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 configura-
                     tion.

       graceful-stop Gracefully stops the Apache httpd daemon.   This  differs
                     from a normal stop in that currently open connections 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 con-
                     figuration files and either reports Syntax Ok or informa-
                     tion  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 re-
       moved.

       startssl      To  start  httpd  with  SSL support, you should edit your
                     configuration file to include the relevant directives 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)