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Apache HTTP Server Version 2.0

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Apache > HTTP Server > Documentation > Version 2.0 > Programs

httpd - Apache Hypertext Transfer Protocol Server

httpd 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.

In general, httpd should not be invoked directly, but rather should be invoked via apachectl on Unix-based systems or as a service on Windows NT, 2000 and XP and as a console application on Windows 9x and ME.

See also

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Synopsis

httpd [ -d serverroot ] [ -f config ] [ -C directive ] [ -c directive ] [ -D parameter ] [ -e level ] [ -E file ] [ -k start|restart|graceful|stop ] [ -R directory ] [ -h ] [ -l ] [ -L ] [ -S ] [ -t ] [ -v ] [ -V ] [ -X ]

On Windows systems, the following additional arguments are available:

httpd [ -k install|config|uninstall ] [ -n name ] [ -w ]

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Options

-d serverroot
Set the initial value for the ServerRoot directive to serverroot. This can be overridden by the ServerRoot directive in the configuration file. The default is /usr/local/apache2.
-f config
Uses the directives in the file config on startup. If config does not begin with a /, then it is taken to be a path relative to the ServerRoot. The default is conf/httpd.conf.
-k start|restart|graceful|stop
Signals httpd to start, restart, or stop. See Stopping Apache for more information.
-C directive
Process the configuration directive before reading config files.
-c directive
Process the configuration directive after reading config files.
-D parameter
Sets a configuration parameter which can be used with <IfDefine> sections in the configuration files to conditionally skip or process commands at server startup and restart.
-e level
Sets the LogLevel to level during server startup. This is useful for temporarily increasing the verbosity of the error messages to find problems during startup.
-E file
Send error messages during server startup to file.
-R directory
When the server is compiled using the SHARED_CORE rule, this specifies the directory for the shared object files.
-h
Output a short summary of available command line options.
-l
Output a list of modules compiled into the server. This will not list dynamically loaded modules included using the LoadModule directive.
-L
Output a list of directives together with expected arguments and places where the directive is valid.
-S
Show the settings as parsed from the config file (currently only shows the virtualhost settings).
-t
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 DUMP_VHOSTS is also set, details of the virtual host configuration will be printed.
-v
Print the version of httpd, and then exit.
-V
Print the version and build parameters of httpd, and then exit.
-X
Run httpd in debug mode. Only one worker will be started and the server will not detach from the console.

The following arguments are available only on the Windows platform:

-k install|config|uninstall
Install Apache as a Windows NT service; change startup options for the Apache service; and uninstall the Apache service.
-n name
The name of the Apache service to signal.
-w
Keep the console window open on error so that the error message can be read.