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<parentdocument href="./">Programs</parentdocument>

<title>httpd - Apache Hypertext Transfer Protocol Server</title>

<summary>

<p><code>httpd</code> is the Apache HyperText Transfer Protocol

(HTTP) server program. It is designed to be run as a standalone

daemon process. When used like this it will create a pool of

child processes or threads to handle requests.</p>

<p>In general, <code>httpd</code> should not be invoked directly,

but rather should be invoked via <program>

apachectl</program> on Unix-based systems or <a

href="/platform/windows.html#winsvc">as a service on Windows NT,

2000 and XP</a> and <a href="/platform/windows.html#wincons">as

a console application on Windows 9x and ME</a>.</p>

</summary>

<seealso><a href="/invoking.html">Starting Apache</a></seealso>

<seealso><a href="/stopping.html">Stopping Apache</a></seealso>

<seealso><a href="/configuring.html">Configuration Files</a></seealso>

<seealso><a href="/platform/">Platform-specific Documentation</a></seealso>

<seealso><program>apachectl</program></seealso>

<section id="synopsis"><title>Synopsis</title>

<p><code><strong>httpd</strong> [ -<strong>d</strong>

<var>serverroot</var> ] [ -<strong>f</strong> <var>config</var> ]

[ -<strong>C</strong> <var>directive</var> ] [ -<strong>c</strong>

<var>directive</var> ] [ -<strong>D</strong> <var>parameter</var> ]

[ -<strong>e</strong> <var>level</var> ] [ -<strong>E</strong>

<var>file</var> ]

[ <strong>-k</strong> start|restart|graceful|stop|graceful-stop ]

[ -<strong>R</strong> <var>directory</var> ] [ -<strong>h</strong> ]

[ -<strong>l</strong> ] [ -<strong>L</strong> ] [ -<strong>S</strong> ]

[ -<strong>t</strong> ] [ -<strong>v</strong> ] [ -<strong>V</strong> ]

[ -<strong>X</strong> ] [ -<strong>M</strong> ]</code></p>

<p>On <a href="/platform/windows.html">Windows systems</a>, the

following additional arguments are available:</p>

<p><code><strong>httpd</strong> [ -<strong>k</strong>

install|config|uninstall ] [ -<strong>n</strong> <var>name</var> ]

[ -<strong>w</strong> ]</code></p>

</section>

<section id="options"><title>Options</title>

<dl>

<dt><code>-d <var>serverroot</var></code></dt>

<dd>Set the initial value for the <directive

module="core">ServerRoot</directive> directive to

<var>serverroot</var>. This can be overridden by the ServerRoot

directive in the configuration file. The default is

<code>/usr/local/apache2</code>.</dd>

<dt><code>-f <var>config</var></code></dt>

<dd>Uses the directives in the file <var>config</var> on startup. If

<var>config</var> does not begin with a /, then it is taken to be a

path relative to the <directive

module="core">ServerRoot</directive>. The default is

<code>conf/httpd.conf</code>.</dd>

<dt><code>-k <code>start|restart|graceful|stop|graceful-stop</code></code></dt>

<dd>Signals <code>httpd</code> to start, restart, or stop. See <a

href="/stopping.html">Stopping Apache</a> for more information.</dd>

<dt><code>-C <var>directive</var></code></dt>

<dd>Process the configuration <var>directive</var> before reading

config files.</dd>

<dt><code>-c <var>directive</var></code></dt>

<dd>Process the configuration <var>directive</var> after reading config

files.</dd>

<dt><code>-D <var>parameter</var></code></dt>

<dd>Sets a configuration <var>parameter </var>which can be used with

<directive type="section" module="core">IfDefine</directive> sections

in the configuration files to conditionally skip or process

commands at server startup and restart.</dd>

<dt><code>-e <var>level</var></code></dt>

<dd>Sets the <directive module="core">LogLevel</directive> to

<var>level</var> during server startup. This is useful for

temporarily increasing the verbosity of the error messages to find

problems during startup.</dd>

<dt><code>-E <var>file</var></code></dt>

<dd>Send error messages during server startup to <var>file</var>.</dd>

<dt><code>-R <var>directory</var></code></dt>

<dd>When the server is compiled using the <code>SHARED_CORE</code>

rule, this specifies the <var>directory</var> for the shared

object files.</dd>

<dt><code>-h</code></dt>

<dd>Output a short summary of available command line options.</dd>

<dt><code>-l</code></dt>

<dd>Output a list of modules compiled into the server. This will

<strong>not</strong> list dynamically loaded modules included using

the <directive module="mod_so">LoadModule</directive> directive.</dd>

<dt><code>-L</code></dt>

<dd>Output a list of directives together with expected arguments and

places where the directive is valid.</dd>

<dt><code>-M</code></dt>

<dd>Dump a list of loaded Static and Shared Modules.</dd>

<dt><code>-S</code></dt>

<dd>Show the settings as parsed from the config file (currently only

shows the virtualhost settings).</dd>

<dt><code>-t</code></dt>

<dd>Run syntax tests for configuration files only. The program

immediately exits after these syntax parsing tests with either a return code

of 0 (Syntax OK) or return code not equal to 0 (Syntax Error). If -D

<var>DUMP</var>_<var>VHOSTS </var>is also set, details of the virtual host

configuration will be printed. If -D <var>DUMP</var>_<var>MODULES </var> is

set, all loaded modules will be printed.</dd>

<dt><code>-v</code></dt>

<dd>Print the version of <code>httpd</code>, and then exit.</dd>

<dt><code>-V</code></dt>

<dd>Print the version and build parameters of <code>httpd</code>, and

then exit.</dd>

<dt><code>-X</code></dt>

<dd>Run httpd in debug mode. Only one worker will be started and the

server will not detach from the console.</dd>

</dl>

<p>The following arguments are available only on the <a

href="/platform/windows.html">Windows platform</a>:</p>

<dl>

<dt><code>-k install|config|uninstall</code></dt>

<dd>Install Apache as a Windows NT service; change startup options for

the Apache service; and uninstall the Apache service.</dd>

<dt><code>-n <var>name</var></code></dt>

<dd>The <var>name</var> of the Apache service to signal.</dd>

<dt><code>-w</code></dt>

<dd>Keep the console window open on error so that the error message can

be read.</dd>

</dl>

</section>

</manualpage>