APACHECTL(8) apachectl APACHECTL(8)

# [NAME](#NAME)

apachectl - Apache HTTP Server Control Interface

# [SYNOPSIS](#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*

# [SUMMARY](#SUMMARY)

**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.

# [OPTIONS](#OPTIONS)

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

[**start**](#start)

Start the Apache **httpd** daemon. Gives an error if it is already running. This is equivalent to **apachectl -k start**.

[**stop**](#stop)

Stops the Apache **httpd** daemon. This is equivalent to **apachectl -k stop**.

[**restart**](#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**](#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**](#status)

Displays a brief status report. Similar to the **fullstatus** option, except that the list of requests currently being served is omitted.

[**graceful**](#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**](#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**](#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**](#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**.

# [FILES](#FILES)

The default paths listed below may be changed at compile time. Consult your local installation for the actual locations.

**/usr/local/apache2/bin/envvars**

Environment variable settings sourced at startup.

**/usr/local/apache2/bin/httpd**

The httpd binary invoked by apachectl.

2026-05-08 Apache HTTP Server

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Document: apachectl(8) from apache2 2.4.69-r1 (Chainguard OS)
Source: https://github.com/apache/httpd