Unix: Start and Stop vFabric Web Server Instances

You interactively start, stop, or restart a vFabric Web Server instance on Unix with the httpdctl shell script in the bin directory of the instance.

Warning: You always use the start script in the bin of the instance directory, such as /opt/vwmare/vfabric-web-server/myserver/bin. Do not use the start script in the httpd-2.2/bin sub-directory of the main installation directory.

You can also install a vFabric Web Server instance as a Unix service so it automatically starts and stops when the operating system itself is started and stopped. If you install it as a service, you can also start and stop the service by using the /etc/init.d/service-name script. For more information, see Installing vFabric Web Server Instances as Unix Services.

Prerequisites

Complete the appropriate procedure in Create vFabric Web Server Instances.

Procedure

Log in to your Unix computer as the root user.
Start a terminal window and change to the bin sub-directory of your vFabric Web Server instance's root directory. For example, if you created an instance called myserver that lives in the installation directory /opt/vmware/vfabric-web-server:
```
prompt# cd /opt/vmware/vfabric-web-server/myserver/bin
```
Start the instance using the ./httpdctl start command:
```
prompt# ./httpdctl start
```
You should see a message as follows:
```
Starting Apache: 
Server started OK
```
To test that the vFabric Web Server instance actually started, navigate to the http://host:port URL in your browser, where host refers to the host computer (you can use localhost if your browser is on the same computer) and port refers to the HTTP listen port number you provided when you created the instance. The default value is 80
For example, if you are using the default ports on your local computer, you can use this URL:
```
http://localhost:80
```
If the instance started successfully, you should see the Welcome page.
To get status about the instance:
```
prompt# ./httpctl status
```
To stop the instance immediately, even if there are current connections in use:
```
prompt# cd /opt/vmware/vfabric-web-server/myserver/bin
prompt$ ./httpdctl stop
```
To stop the instance gracefully:
```
prompt$ ./httpdctl gracefulstop
```

See httpdctl Reference for the full list of available httpdctl commands.

What to do next

Complete the procedure in Serve a Sample HTML File from your vFabric Web Server Instance.
Configure your instance as described in Configuring vFabric Web Server.

Installing vFabric Web Server Instances as Unix Services

You can install a vFabric Web Server instance as a Unix service so it automatically starts and stops when the operating system itself starts and stops. If you install it as a service, you start and stop the service by using the /etc/init.d/service-name script.

Procedure

Log in to your Unix computer as the root user.
Start a terminal window and change to the bin sub-directory of your vFabric Web Server instance's root directory. For example, if you created an instance called myserver that lives in the installation directory /opt/vmware/vfabric-web-server:
```
prompt# cd /opt/vmware/vfabric-web-server/myserver/bin
```
Install the instance as a Unix service using the ./httpdctl install command:
```
prompt# ./httpdctl install
```
You should see the following output:
```
Installing vFabric httpd myserver
as the unix service vFabric-httpd-myserver
```
The Unix service name of the instance is vFabric-httpd-instance-name. This means that you can install multiple vFabric Web Server instances as their own separate Unix services and control them independently.
You can control this instance as usual by executing the bin/httpdctl shell script from the instance directory. You can also control the instance by executing the /etc/init.d/service-name script, passing it the same commands as httpdlctl. For example, to start the myserver instance:
```
prompt# /etc/init.d/vFabric-httpd-myserver start
```
To uninstall the instance as a Unix service:
```
prompt# ./httpdctl uninstall
```