What is the command to update configuration changes on apache server without restarting the service?
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/usr/sbin/apachectl restart
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/usr/sbin/apachectl reload
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/usr/sbin/apachectl configtest
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/usr/sbin/apachectl full-server-status
Apache provides the 'reload' command (apachectl reload or graceful restart) to apply configuration changes without fully restarting the service. This reloads the configuration files and restarts child processes gracefully, allowing existing connections to complete. The 'restart' command (A) performs a full stop and start, 'configtest' (C) only validates syntax without applying changes, and 'full-server-status' (D) is not a standard Apache command.
apachectl reload sends a HUP-style signal that tells the running Apache master process to re-read its configuration files and gracefully re-apply them to worker processes without dropping the listening sockets or in-flight connections - i.e., no restart, no downtime. apachectl restart actually stops and starts httpd (briefly dropping connections), which is not 'without restarting.' apachectl configtest only syntax-checks the config and doesn't apply anything. apachectl full-server-status isn't a real standard apachectl subcommand (the real status option is just status), and even if it existed it would only report status, not apply config changes. So reload is the only option that both updates the running config and avoids a full restart.