---
name: "apachectl"
section: "8"
platform: "linux"
package: "apache"
version: "2.4.69-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux", "macos"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/apachectl/8"
---

# apachectl(8)

Apache HTTP Server Control Interface

## NAME

apachectl - Apache HTTP Server Control Interface

## 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

**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

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

- **start**

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

- **stop**

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

- **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**

  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**

  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 **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**

  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**

  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**

  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

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.