apachectl is a front end to the Apache HyperText Transfer
Protocol (HTTP) server. It is designed to help the adminis-
trator control the functioning of the Apache httpd daemon.
Gracefully restarts the Apache daemon by sending
it a SIGWINCH. 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 configura-
tion files via configtest before initiating the
restart to make sure Apache doesn't die.