How to stop nginx on Mac OS X

Question

I've installed and configured nginx server on my Mac from MacPorts

sudo port install nginx
Followed the recommendation from the port installation console and created the launchd startup item for nginx, then started the server.
Renamed nginx.conf.example to nginx.conf and renamed mime.types.example to mime.types.

It works fine, but I couldn't stop it.

I tried sudo nginx -s stop, but this doesn't stop the server, I can still see "Welcome to nginx!" page in my browser on http://localhost/; also I still see master and worker processes of nginx with ps -e | grep nginx.

What is the best way to start/stop nginx on Mac?

BTW, I've added "daemon off;" into nginx.conf - as recommended by various resources.

score 66 · Accepted Answer · answered May 16 '10 at 21:25

66

# nginx -h
...
-s signal     : send signal to a master process: stop, quit, reopen, reload
...

answered May 16 '10 at 21:25

SaveTheRbtz

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When I installed nginx with MacPorts, the above command didn't work - I wasn't giving me an error, but the server kept running. But when I wiped nginx clean and reinstalled it as part of passenger nginx module installation, it works now: I can do "nginx -s stop" and it really stops the server. Thank you! – Alex Kaushovik May 18 '10 at 14:28
2

using `nginx -s stop` worked for me but then i wasn't able to restart my server using either `nginx -s reopen`, `nginx -s reload`, `nginx -s start` or `nginx -s restart` ? How to restart? Nevermind, just executing the program `$ sudo /usr/local/sbin/nginx` restarts it. – tim peterson Sep 12 '12 at 00:37
@timpeterson `restart` or `reload` works on ... working server, if you are stoping it you just need to start it with common 'no-signal' `nginx` command. – biesior Nov 23 '12 at 11:07

score 16 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 13 '16 at 05:12

16

This command stops also stops nginx.

sudo nginx -s stop

answered Jul 13 '16 at 05:12

HourGlass

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score 8 · Answer 3 · edited Jun 27 '14 at 06:13

8

The correct way to do this for Nginx installed via MacPorts:

Start: sudo port load nginx
Stop: sudo port unload nginx

OS X uses launchd so the process of starting/stopping daemons is slightly different.

edited Jun 27 '14 at 06:13

answered Jan 30 '13 at 14:36

R. van Twisk

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score 4 · Answer 4 · answered May 14 '10 at 19:40

4

Look at the PID of master process and do

kill -QUIT <master_pid>

answered May 14 '10 at 19:40

Alexander Azarov

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How to lookup thePID? – user1767754 Jul 14 '15 at 05:26
`ps aux | grep nginx` – lacostenycoder Jun 19 '17 at 07:11
you may need to do `sudo kill -9 ` – lacostenycoder Jun 19 '17 at 07:12

score 3 · Answer 5 · edited Feb 11 '16 at 20:26

3

You may try the following:

ps -lef|grep -i nginx:|awk '{ print $2}'|xargs kill -9

edited Feb 11 '16 at 20:26

Diamond

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answered Feb 11 '16 at 16:01

thinkhy

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denis · Answer 6 · 2020-01-19T20:09:44.177

0

Since you installed it following the steps given by macports, I guess you added it to services started at boottime. Have you tried

launchctl unload /Library/LaunchDaemons/org.macports.nginx.plist

to stop the Nginx daemon?

You could also have a try with

sudo port unload nginx

edited Jan 19 '20 at 20:09

answered Jan 19 '20 at 19:59

denis

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How to stop nginx on Mac OS X

6 Answers6