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 auto-
matically checks the configuration files via configtest
before initiating the restart to to catch the most obvi-
ous errors. However, it is still possible for the daemon
to die because of problems 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 SI-
GUSR1. If the daemon is not running, it is started. This
differs from a normal restart in that currently open con-
nections 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 be-
fore processing them. This command automatically checks
the configuration files via apache2ctl configtest before
initiating the restart to to catch the most obvious er-
rors. 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 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 con-
figuration 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)
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