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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/apache2.2-common/README.Debian.gz

                                  April 2008                     apache2ctl(8)