man > apache2ctl(8)

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 de‐
       signed to help the administrator 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 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 run‐
                     ning, 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 currently 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 cur‐
                     rently  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 delay may be necessary to ensure that the old log files
                     are closed before processing them.  This command automatically checks the  con‐
                     figuration  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 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 configuration files and ei‐
                     ther  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 in‐
                     clude 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 de‐
       tails.  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)