How to restart Apache Httped Web server?

How do you properly shutdown the Httpd Web Server on Linux system and restart it?

Helicon

assuming these paths of course

/usr/local/apache/bin/apachectl graceful

or if you're a vicious maniac use

/usr/local/apache/bin/apachectl restart

# /etc/rc.d/init.d/httpd stop

# /etc/rc.d/init.d/httpd start

To PROPERLY shutdown and restart, use "/path/to/apachectl graceful" at ALL time.

Don't use:
# /etc/rc.d/init.d/httpd stop
# /etc/rc.d/init.d/httpd start

why?

>>why?

Sometime you think httpd is running but in fact it's not, If you do a "httpd stop", it will possibly corrupt your httpd. On the other hand while you think it's NOT running but in fact it's running, then trying to START it, it increases the chance of corrupting your httpd. Not only that, apachectl also rm your pid file properly.

apachectl comes with Apache (written by my former co-worker) and it does nothing but to PROPERLY start/stop/restart and debugging. When you doing a "apachectl graceful", you need not to worry whether or not httpd is running, if it's NOT running, it will try to start. If it's already running, it will try to restart. All these works are done for you automatically.

"man 1 apachectl" to find out more. If it's in /usr/local/apache/s?bin/, add /usr/local/apache to your man path.