How to restart Nginx on Mac OS X?

Question

I just installed Nginx on Mac OS X (thanks http://www.kevinworthington.com/nginx-mac-os-snow-leopard-2-minutes/), but how do I restart Nginx on Mac OS X?

Thanks!

If you just want to restart because of an updated config then just do `sudo nginx -s reload`. — hobbes3, Mar 16 '13 at 21:26

score 145 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 24 '11 at 00:21

145

sudo nginx -s stop && sudo nginx

answered Jan 24 '11 at 00:21

osdyng

1,872
1
13
10

1

Quick question what does the `&&` means? I guess it's something different then using `;`? – hobbes3 Mar 15 '13 at 20:03
3

@hobbes3 http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6152659/bash-sh-difference-between-and – cbednarski Mar 16 '13 at 02:12
5

this answer is not working for brew installed nginx – vearutop Aug 09 '15 at 04:43
1

It seems to work for my brew installed nginx in 2019. – Barney Szabolcs Oct 22 '19 at 09:45
It doesn't work for my brew installed nginx. – SmallChess Feb 04 '21 at 20:01

score 55 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 08 '14 at 23:50

55

For a one-liner, you could just do:

sudo nginx -s reload

The -s options stands for signal, and is the option you'll use to send stop, quit, reopen and reload signals to nginx.

For more info on the options, just do nginx -h for a list of all of them and their functions.

Cheers!

answered Jun 08 '14 at 23:50

James Pederson

651
5
4

2

This did not work for me so I had to actually do `sudo nginx` to get it to start. I think it had something to do with nginx already being stopped in my case. – james-see May 19 '16 at 17:40
1

Could you do `sudo nginx -s reload || sudo nginx` instead? – James Murphy Jul 01 '19 at 13:38

score 27 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 14 '18 at 07:23

27

for brew installation: sudo brew services restart nginx

answered Jul 14 '18 at 07:23

dimaninc

371
3
3

1

This command dosn't work for me at all. I install nginx via brew... – kris_IV Dec 22 '18 at 18:37
1

@kris_IV what is the output? – dimaninc Dec 23 '18 at 08:29
1

after start: `brew services restart nginx` i get response: `Stopping `nginx`... (might take a while)` `==> Successfully stopped `nginx` (label: homebrew.mxcl.nginx)` `==> Successfully started `nginx` (label: homebrew.mxcl.nginx)` – kris_IV Dec 25 '18 at 11:32
1

@kris_IV and why do you think this command not working then? everything is fine according to your output – dimaninc Dec 25 '18 at 20:47
1

I know that the output is OK, but new config doesn't work at all, but when I use `sudo nginx -s stop && sudo nginx` instead everything is OK and new config work. – kris_IV Dec 26 '18 at 11:11
1

It's the right command to start via services, but sudo is not needed. Nginx can be started also by calling the executable `nginx` – funder7 Dec 15 '20 at 12:41
2

It looked good on `brew services restart nginx` – SmallChess Feb 04 '21 at 20:02
This wasted me hours. It looks like it worked, but it's better to just use nginx correctly rather than doing so through brew. – jscul Jul 28 '22 at 01:10

score 11 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 06 '12 at 05:29

11

sudo pkill nginx   
sudo nginx

If the pkill can't be found, then install it using brew install proctools first.

answered Dec 06 '12 at 05:29

Kurt Zhong

269
3
3

3

The above answers are much cleaner than this and enable nginx to stop gracefully. – Mike N Sep 15 '16 at 07:56
1

This came in handy when nginx started misbehaving and I couldn't kill it with `sudo nginx -s quit` or `sudo -s reload` – paperclip Oct 18 '16 at 11:34
1

This is the only thing that worked for me. Thank you. – A-Dubb Apr 19 '18 at 22:04

score 8 · Answer 5 · answered Jul 25 '19 at 18:47

8

If you are using brew:

To see all services:

brew services list

Start nginx service:

brew services start nginx

Stop nginx Service:

brew services stop nginx

answered Jul 25 '19 at 18:47

nima

180
1
4

score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Sep 02 '16 at 14:34

1

sudo nginx -s quit && sudo nginx

Checkout nginx guide

answered Sep 02 '16 at 14:34

Reck

119
2

1

This does the job, but are you sure a proper shell script does not exist? This method is very raw. – asdmin Sep 02 '16 at 15:11
1

At least, this is the official documentation. For sure, I will follow the hereby solution also. Thank you. – Francisco Maria Calisto Feb 06 '19 at 09:55

score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Nov 22 '16 at 21:01

1

Using MAMP and Nginx? Then you have an installed script:

sudo /Applications/MAMP/bin/restartNginx.sh

answered Nov 22 '16 at 21:01

PeddlePower

111
2

score 1 · Answer 8 · answered Feb 06 '19 at 09:53

Just another note, if you want to start nginx with launchctl, when your Mac boots up, you can do as follows:

sudo cp /usr/local/opt/nginx/*.plist /Library/LaunchDaemons
sudo launchctl load -w /Library/LaunchDaemons/homebrew.mxcl.nginx.plist

In short, you need to put your plist file in /Library/LaunchDaemons, not in ~/Library/LaunchAgents like the Homebrew instructions. Finally, use the -w option with launchctl. For further information, follow this guide.

score 1 · Answer 9 · answered Dec 31 '19 at 09:25

1

If you installed nginx with brew and you started it as a service brew services start nginx then you can issue: brew services restart nginx

answered Dec 31 '19 at 09:25

doublespaces

111
1

How to restart Nginx on Mac OS X?

9 Answers9