re-reading a config file

[Jonathan Hutchins]

On Friday, February 06, 2004 02:19 pm, Rusty wrote:

> Isn't there some way to get a service to re-read its configuration file
> OTHER than stopping and restarting the service? 

It depends on the service.  Some will re-read the config file without shutting 
down, but some won't.  Usually this is done by passing a -HUP signal - kill 
HUP, kill SIGHUP, kill -1, followed by the process ID number.  This is often 
accomplished by passing a script in /etc/init.d the "reload" parameter. (/
etc/init.d/httpd reload).

Again, though, not every service accepts a HUP or reload command, some just 
restart if they're asked, some do nothing unless you explicitly restart them.  

Then there are the ones that monitor the timestamp of the config file and 
reload it if it changes.

So it depends on the service (and possibly the distribution as well).