apachectl - Apache HTTP Server Control Interface - Apache HTTP Server

Apache HTTP Server Version 2.4

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# apachectl - Apache HTTP Server Control Interface

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`apachectl` 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 `httpd` daemon.

The `apachectl` script can operate in two modes. First, it can act as a simple front-end to the `httpd` command that simply sets any necessary environment variables and then invokes `httpd`, passing through any command line arguments. Second, `apachectl` can act as a SysV init script, taking simple one-word arguments like `start`, `restart`, and `stop`, and translating them into appropriate signals to `httpd`.

If your Apache installation uses non-standard paths, you will need to edit the `apachectl` script to set the appropriate paths to the `httpd` binary. You can also specify any necessary `httpd` command line arguments. See the comments in the script for details.

The `apachectl` script returns a 0 exit value on success, and >0 if an error occurs. For more details, view the comments in the script.

### See also

- Starting Apache
- Stopping Apache
- Configuration Files
- Platform Docs
- `httpd`

- Comments

## Synopsis

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

`apachectl [ httpd-argument ]`

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

`apachectl command`

## Options

Only the SysV init-style options are defined here. Other arguments are defined on the `httpd` manual page.

`start`
  Start the Apache `httpd` daemon. Gives an error if it is already running. This is equivalent to `apachectl -k start`.
`stop`
  Stops the Apache `httpd` daemon. This is equivalent to `apachectl -k stop`.
`restart`
  Restarts the Apache `httpd` daemon. If the daemon is not running, it is started. This command automatically checks the configuration files as in `configtest` before initiating the restart to make sure the daemon doesn't die. This is equivalent to `apachectl -k restart`.
`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 editing the `STATUSURL` variable in the script.
`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 `httpd` daemon. 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 delay may be necessary to ensure that the old log files are closed before processing them. This command automatically checks the configuration files as in `configtest` before initiating the restart to make sure Apache doesn't die. This is equivalent to `apachectl -k graceful`.
`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. This is equivalent to `apachectl -k graceful-stop`.
`configtest`
  Run a configuration file syntax test. It parses the configuration files and either reports `Syntax Ok` or detailed information about the particular syntax error. This is equivalent to `apachectl -t`.

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 directives and then use the normal `apachectl start`.

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## Comments

Notice:
This is not a Q&A section. Comments placed here should be pointed towards suggestions on improving the documentation or server, and may be removed again by our moderators if they are either implemented or considered invalid/off-topic. Questions on how to manage the Apache HTTP Server should be directed at either our IRC channel, #httpd, on Freenode, or sent to our mailing lists.