Starts Apache if it is not already running.

Starts Apache with SSL support if it is not already running. For more information about SSL support, refer to Section 30.6, “Setting Up a Secure Web Server with SSL”.

Stops Apache by terminating the parent process.

Stops then restarts Apache. Starts the Web server if it was not running before.

Stops then restarts Apache only if it has been running before.

Stops the Web server by advising all forked Apache processes to first finish their requests before shutting down. As each process dies, it is replaced by a newly started one, resulting in complete “restart” of Apache.

	Tip
rcapache2 reload is the preferred method of restarting Apache in production environments, for example, to activate a change in the configuration, because it allows all clients to be served without causing connection break-offs.

Checks the syntax of the configuration files without affecting a running Web server. Because this check is forced every time the server is started, reloaded, or restarted, it is usually not necessary to run the test explicitly (if a configuration error is found, the Web server is not started, reloaded, or restarted).

Probes for the necessity of a reload (checks whether the configuration has changed) and suggests the required arguments for the rcapache2 command.

Dumps a short or full status screen, respectively. Requires either lynx or w3m installed as well as the module mod_status enabled. In addition to that, status must be added to APACHE_SERVER_FLAGS in the file /etc/sysconfig/apache2.