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Linux / Unix – Restart PHP Service Command

Iam a new Linux user. How do I restart php service after editing php.ini file on Linux operating systems?

PHP is associated with either your web-server or external FastCGI process manager. In most cases you just need to restart web-server such as Apache / Nginx / Lighttpd depending on your system and software. This page explains how to restart PHP Service using Linux or Unix the command-line options.

Tutorial details
Difficulty level Easy
Root privileges Yes
Requirements Linux or Unix terminal
Category Processes Management
OS compatibility BSD • Linux • Unix
Est. reading time 3 minutes

Restart PHP by restarting your web-server

Type the following command as per your web-server and operating systems.

Restart Apache for php service

If you are using Apache web server type the following command to restart the php:
# /etc/init.d/apache2 restart
OR
# apache2ctl restart

See how to restart Apache Web Server on Ubuntu Linux for more information.

Restart Nginx for php service

If you are using Nginx web-server type the following command to restart nginx:
# /etc/init.d/nginx restart
OR
# service nginx restart
OR
# nginx -s reload

Restart Lighttpd for php service

If you are using Lighttpd web-server type the following command to restart lightpd:
# /etc/init.d/lighttpd restart
OR
# service lighttpd restart

Restart PHP-FAM Fastcgi for PHP service

If you are running php via PHP-FAM fastcgi manager, use any one of the following as per your version of Linux/Unix:
# /etc/init.d/php-fpm restart
For php version 5 fpm:
# /etc/init.d/php5-fpm restart
Are you using php version 7 fpm? Try:
# /etc/init.d/php7.0-fpm restart
Other options on Linux using the service or systemctl command on systemd based Linux distros:
# service php-fpm restart
# service php5-fpm restart
# service php7.0-fpm restart
# restart php-fpm # older ubuntu
# service php-fpm restart
OR
# systemctl restart php-fpm
# systemctl restart php7.0-fpm
# Are you using PHP 8? Try
# systemctl restart php8.0-fpm
Here is how it looks on RHEL 8.x with PHP 8.x:
$ sudo systemctl restart php-fpm

Linux or Unix – Restart PHP Service Command

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Getting status of PHP service

Again use any one of the following command:
# /etc/init.d/php-fpm status
# service php-fpm status
# systemctl status php-fpm
Outputs from Rocky Linux/RHEL/CentOS with PHP v8.x:

● php-fpm.service - The PHP FastCGI Process Manager
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/php-fpm.service; enabled; vendor pres
et: disabled)
  Drop-In: /run/systemd/system/php-fpm.service.d
           └─zzz-lxc-service.conf
   Active: active (running) since Thu 2022-02-03 09:55:05 UTC; 1 week
s 5 days ago
 Main PID: 525 (php-fpm)
   Status: "Processes active: 0, idle: 12, Requests: 16286, slow: 0, Traffic: 0r
eq/sec"
    Tasks: 13 (limit: 102327)
   Memory: 168.5M
   CGroup: /system.slice/php-fpm.service
           ├─ 525 php-fpm: master process (/etc/php-fpm.conf)
           ├─ 544 php-fpm: pool www
           ├─ 545 php-fpm: pool www
           ├─ 546 php-fpm: pool www
           ├─ 547 php-fpm: pool www
           ├─ 548 php-fpm: pool www
           ├─ 592 php-fpm: pool www
           ├─ 725 php-fpm: pool www
           ├─1683 php-fpm: pool www
           ├─2228 php-fpm: pool www

A note about Alpine Linux

Use the following syntax
# /etc/init.d/php-fpm7 restart
# /etc/init.d/php-fpm8 restart
See “how to enable and start services on Alpine Linux” for more info.

Summing up

I would suggest that you read the service command or systemctl command documentation on your Linux or Unix system using the man command:

man service
man systemctl

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