Going back to absolute basics here. The answers on this page and a little googling have brought me to the following resolution to my issue. Steps to restart the apache service with Xampp installed:-

  1. Click the start button and type CMD (if on Windows Vista or later and Apache is installed as a service make sure this is an elevated command prompt)
  2. In the command window that appears type cd C:\xampp\apache\bin (the default installation path for Xampp)
  3. Then type httpd -k restart

I hope that this is of use to others just starting out with running a local Apache server.

Answer from Username_null on Stack Overflow
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Linuxize
linuxize.com › home › apache › apache commands: manage and troubleshoot your web server
Apache Commands: Manage and Troubleshoot Your Web Server | Linuxize
April 8, 2026 - Quick reference for essential Apache commands on Linux. Covers service control, configuration testing, modules, virtual hosts, version info, and log files.
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Apache Software Foundation
httpd.apache.org › docs › current › programs › apachectl.html
apachectl - Apache HTTP Server Control Interface - Apache HTTP Server Version 2.4
The apachectl script can operate in two modes. First, it can act as a simple front-end to the httpd command that simply sets any necessary environment variables and then invokes httpd, passing through any command line arguments.
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GitHub
gist.github.com › jagwarthegreat › aae54e22b3b4eae4d217276c78099abe
APACHE2 COMMANDS · GitHub
## stop it ## apachectl -k stop ## restart it ## apachectl -k restart ## graceful restart it ## apachectl -k graceful ## Start it ## apachectl -f /path/to/your/httpd.conf apachectl -f /usr/local/apache2/conf/httpd.conf
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GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › linux-unix › most-useful-commands-to-manage-apache-web-server-in-linux
Most Useful Commands to Manage Apache Web Server in Linux - GeeksforGeeks
July 23, 2025 - For checking Apache configuration files for finding any syntax errors on Debian-based systems before restarting the service use the following command:-
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Apache Commons
commons.apache.org › exec › commandline.html
Apache Commons Exec - Building the command line – Apache Commons Exec
No matter which approach you are using commons-exec does change your command line arguments in the following two cases · The following executable arguments
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Lyris
lunar.lyris.com › help › lm_help › 4.0 › ApacheCommandLine.html
Apache Command Line
Lyris User's Guide [previous] [next] [contents] Apache Command Line Table of Contents Introduction Email Commands Web Interface for Users Server Administrator Site Administrator List Administrator Other Topics Add-On Packages NT Authentication Option Lyris List Manager ODBC Driver Random Document ...
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Ubuntu
ubuntu.com › tutorials › install-and-configure-apache
Install and Configure Apache | Ubuntu
After setting up our website, we need to activate the virtual hosts configuration file to enable it. We do that by running the following command in the configuration file directory: ... Enabling site gci. To activate the new configuration, you need to run: service apache2 reload root@ubuntu-server:/etc/apache2/sites-available#
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Cheat Sheet Factory
cheatsheetfactory.geekyhacker.com › web server › apache
Apache cheatsheet
$ sudo apachectl status $ sudo apachectl start $ sudo apachectl stop # sudden stop, drops current connections $ sudo apachectl graceful-stop # serve whatever that's currently serving and then drops $ sudo apachectl restart # parent doesn't get ...
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Apache
nightlies.apache.org › httpd › trunk › doxygen › group__APACHE__CORE__MAIN.html
Apache2: Command line options
Command line options · Apache HTTP Server » Core routines · Collaboration diagram for Command line options: AP_SERVER_BASEARGS is the command argument list parsed by http_main.c in apr_getopt() format. Use this for default'ing args that the MPM can safely ignore and pass on from its rewrite_args() handler.
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Red Hat
docs.redhat.com › en › documentation › red_hat_enterprise_linux › 6 › html › managing_confined_services › chap-managing_confined_services-the_apache_http_server
Chapter 2. The Apache HTTP Server | Managing Confined Services | Red Hat Enterprise Linux | 6 | Red Hat Documentation
To prove that httpd is listening and communicating on TCP port 12345, open a telnet connection to the specified port and issue a HTTP GET command, as follows: ~]# telnet localhost 12345 Trying 127.0.0.1... Connected to localhost. Escape character is '^]'. GET / HTTP/1.0 HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date: Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:36:34 GMT Server: Apache/2.2.13 (Red Hat) Accept-Ranges: bytes Content-Length: 3985 Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 [...continues...]
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Medium
medium.com › nerd-for-tech › how-to-launch-an-apache-web-server-from-the-cli-5e607e47172a
How to launch an Apache Web Server from the CLI | by Marshall Hubbard | Nerd For Tech | Medium
March 26, 2022 - The next step is to run the command sudo systemctl start httpd to start up Apache. Then run the command sudo systemctl enable httpd to make sure Apache starts when the server is first started.
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nixCraft
cyberciti.biz › nixcraft › howto › apache › starting, stopping, and restarting apache 2 webserver command
Start / Stop and Restart Apache 2 Web Server Command - nixCraft
October 7, 2024 - Apache can be started or restarted using any one of the following methods on Linux or Unix-like systems. First, login to your web-server using ssh client, if server is not in your local data center: $ ssh root@your-server-com #Linode box $ ssh ec2-user@aws-ip-here # AWS $ ssh vivek@192.168.2.100 # My home dev server Once logged in type the following commands as per your Linux or Unix variant.
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Quickhost
help.quickhost.uk › index.php › knowledge-base › apache-web-server-commands-guide
Apache web server commands and settings – Software – Knowledge Base
Apache web server commands and settings – Software · Contents · Apache is a widely used free web server software that can serve web pages to users over the internet. Here’s a basic guide to help you manage an Apache Web Server, including starting, stopping, configuring, and securing your web server.
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Status List
statuslist.app › status list › ultimate apache web server guide › apache command line status: how to guide
Apache Command Line Status: How To Guide - Status List
April 21, 2023 - The apachectl command, for instance, allows you to start, stop and restart Apache cleanly. It also provides some basic status information like the current state of Apache processes.
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Vickieli
vickieli.dev › development › apache-intro
Apache for Beginners - Vickie Li’s Security Blog
October 5, 2020 - You can enable your Apache site by using the command a2ensite(Apache 2 enable site) and disable it by using a2dissite (Apache 2 disable site).
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Washington University in St. Louis
classes.engineering.wustl.edu › cse330 › index.php › Apache
Apache - CSE330 Wiki
At this point, Apache has been installed, but is not yet running. To start the webserver, run this command:
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RunCloud
runcloud.io › docs › cheat-sheet-apache
Cheat Sheet - Apache | RunCloud Docs
August 1, 2025 - To change the MPM setting, you need to edit the main configuration file by using the following command: ... Change the event MPM to the worker MPM by commenting out the first line and un-commenting the second line. It should look like this: After that, save your Apache config and restart Apache service: