Apache HTTP Server Version 2.4

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.
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
Only the SysV init-style options are defined here.  Other arguments
are defined on the httpd manual page.
starthttpd daemon.  Gives an error if it
is already running.  This is equivalent to apachectl -k
start.stophttpd daemon.  This is equivalent to
apachectl -k stop.restarthttpd 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.fullstatusmod_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.statusfullstatus option, except that the list of requests
currently being served is omitted.gracefulhttpd 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-stophttpd 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.configtestSyntax 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.
startsslhttpd with SSL support, you should edit
your configuration file to include the relevant directives and then
use the normal apachectl start.