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25.3. Starting and Stopping httpd
After installing the
httpd package, review the Apache HTTP Server's documentation available online at http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/.
The
httpd RPM installs the /etc/init.d/httpd script, which can be accessed using the /sbin/service command.
Starting
httpd using the apachectl control script sets the environmental variables in /etc/sysconfig/httpd and starts httpd. You can also set the environment variables using the init script.
To start the server using the
apachectl control script as root type:
apachectl start
You can also start
httpd using /sbin/service httpd start. This starts httpd but does not set the environment variables. If you are using the default Listen directive in httpd.conf, which is port 80, you will need to have root privileges to start the apache server.
To stop the server, as root type:
apachectl stop
You can also stop
httpd using /sbin/service httpd stop. The restart option is a shorthand way of stopping and then starting the Apache HTTP Server.
You can restart the server as root by typing:
apachectl restart
or:
service httpd restart
Apache will display a message on the console or in the
ErrorLog if it encounters an error while starting.
By default, the
httpd service does not start automatically at boot time. If you would wish to have Apache startup at boot time, you will need to add a call to apachectl in your startup files within the rc.N directory. A typical file used is rc.local. As this starts Apache as root, it is recommended to properly configure your security and authentication before adding this call.
You can also configure the
httpd service to start up at boot time, using an initscript utility, such as /sbin/chkconfig, /usr/sbin/ntsysv, or the Services Configuration Tool program.
You can also display the status of your httpd server by typing:
apachectl status
The status module
mod_status however needs to be enabled in your httpd.conf configuration file for this to work. For more details on mod_status can be found on http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/mod/mod_status.html.
Note
If running the Apache HTTP Server as a secure server, the secure server's password is required after the machine boots when using an encrypted private SSL key.
You can find more information on http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/ssl
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