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 designed 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  running,  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 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 SIGUSR1.  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 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 either  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  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)