Apache2 restart does not work when I navigate to it's directory

Question

This works:

sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

It asks for my password, I enter it and apache restarts.

Then I try this:

cd /etc/init.d
sudo apache2 restart

Nope, it doesn't work. Apache displays usage info. Why can't I navigate to the directory and do the restart.

As must by now be obvious, I'm absolutely a newbie. For what it's worth I'm using Ubuntu 12.04

@Anders F. U. Kiær: I don't think the question is about how to start Apache but why it doesn't work the seconds way in the question. — Florian Diesch, Feb 22 '14 at 13:50
@FlorianDiesch Qustion linked was how to restart apache, and the answers there clearly states the different methods and how they distinct. — Anders F. U. Kiær, Feb 22 '14 at 14:01

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 22 '14 at 13:48

2

If you run

sudo apache2 restart

the program apache2 is searched in the folders that the environment variable $PATH contains, not in your current working folder. So it doesn't run /etc/init.d/apache2 but /usr/sbin/apache2.

You can use

cd /etc/init.d
sudo ./apache2 restart

Here ./apache2 calls the program apache2 that is in the current working folder so you actually run /etc/init.d/apache2

answered Feb 22 '14 at 13:48

Florian Diesch

87,389

1

+1 for answering what the OP actually asked for. – jobin Feb 22 '14 at 15:36

Avinash Raj · Answer 2 · 2014-02-23T06:57:27.117

0

The correct way to invoke (stop or restart or start) any service, is to give it's full path name as,

sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

OR

sudo service apache2 restart

edited Feb 23 '14 at 06:57

answered Feb 22 '14 at 13:22

Avinash Raj

78,556

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 22 '14 at 13:34

0

You can put it simply by typing

sudo service apache2 restart

by the way, can you give the output when you run this command?

answered Feb 22 '14 at 13:34

user3335903

109
3

Apache2 restart does not work when I navigate to it's directory

3 Answers3