MEPO Forum :: Apache HTTP Server

HP Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There are mainly three kinds of ways to
> start/restart an Apache Server for different Linux
> distributions.
> 
> Taking start as a quick example, they are:
> 
> Shell>> /usr/local/apache2/bin/apachectl -k start
> (Red Hat)
> Shell>> /usr/local/apache2/bin/httpd -k start
> (when you don't have apachectl in Red Hat)
> Shell>> /etc/init.d/apache2 start (Ubuntu, Debian,
> SUSE)
> 
> NOTE: The path of apachectl and httpd may differ
> from "/usr/local/apache2/bin/" depending on your
> installations and in some cases you don't even
> have to specify the patch.
> 
> I. Use of apachectl (Red Head)
> 
> Basically, it is easy to start/restart/stop an
> Apache web server by the commands
> 
> Shell>> apachectl -k start
> Shell>> apachectl -k restart
> Shell>> apachectl -k stop
> 
> to start, restart, stop your Apache server,
> respectively. Note you may need to specify the
> path to the apachectl command. For example, you
> may use
> 
> Full path:
> Shell>> /usr/local/apache2/bin/apachectl -k
> restart
> 
> or 
> 
> Relative path:
> Shell>> bin/apachectl -k restart (when the console
> is in /usr/local/apache2/ in this case)
> 
> for restarting Apache.
> 
> 
> Also, it is recommeded to use the parameter
> "graceful" to stop the sever after finishing
> serving all the HTTP requests while attempting the
> restart the sever. That is, we use
> 
> Shell>> apachectl -k graceful
> 
> to restart the Apache server.
> 
> You may also note that in SUSE Linux, you can
> restart (or start) the server by the command:
> 
> Shell> /etc/init.d/apache2 restart
> 
> II. Use of httpd
> 
> However, due to different versions of
> installation, sometimes apachectl simply doesn't
> work. Instead, you may use the command httpd (with
> a shell path specified). You may use
> 
> Shell>> ./bin/httpd -k restart
> 
> or
> 
> Shell>> ./bin/httpd -k graceful
> 
> to restart your Apache http daemon service.
> 
> III. Use of apache2 (Ubuntu, Debian, SUSE)
> 
> Shell> /etc/init.d/apach2 start|restart|stop
> 
> You may use the following command for restarting
> in Ubuntu:
> 
> Shell> sudo /etc/init.d/apach2 start/restart/stop
> 
> The Apache Official Documents for
> 1. Stopping and Restarting
> 2. apachectl - Apache HTTP Server Control
> Interface
> 3. httpd - Apache Hypertext Transfer Protocol
> Server