To start, stop, or manipulate Apache on a running system, use the init script
/usr/sbin/rcapache2 (refer to
general information about init scripts.). The rcapache2 command takes the following
parameters:
start
Starts Apache if it is not already running.
startssl
Starts Apache with SSL support if it is not already running. For more information
about SSL support, refer to
SSL"
(page 766).
stop
Stops Apache by terminating the parent process.
restart
Stops then restarts Apache. Starts the Web server if it was not running before.
try-restart
Stops then restarts Apache only if it has been running before.
reload or graceful
Stops the Web server by advising all forked Apache processes to first finish their
requests before shutting down. As each process dies, it is replaced by a newly
started one, resulting in complete "restart" of Apache.
TIP
rcapache2 reload is the preferred method of restarting Apache in
production environments, for example, to activate a change in the configu-
ration, because it allows all clients to be served without causing connection
break-offs.
configtest
Checks the syntax of the configuration files without affecting a running Web
server. Because this check is forced every time the server is started, reloaded, or
restarted, it is usually not necessary to run the test explicitly (if a configuration error
is found, the Web server is not started, reloaded, or restarted).
Section 19.2.2, "Init Scripts"
Section 40.6, "Setting Up a Secure Web Server with
(page 378) for a
The Apache HTTP Server
755