=encoding utf-8


=head1 Name


switches - Command-line parameters


=head1



nginx supports the following command-line parameters:

=over




=item *

C<-?> E<verbar> C<-h>E<mdash>print help
for command-line parameters.



=item *

C<-c I<C<file>>>E<mdash>use an alternative
configuration I<C<file>> instead of a default file.



=item *

C<-e I<C<file>>>E<mdash>use an alternative
error log I<C<file>> to store the log
instead of a default file (1.19.5).
The special value C<stderr> selects the standard error file.



=item *

C<-g I<C<directives>>>E<mdash>set
L<global configuration directives|ngx_core_module>,
for example,

    
    nginx -g "pid /var/run/nginx.pid; worker_processes `sysctl -n hw.ncpu`;"





=item *

C<-p I<C<prefix>>>E<mdash>set nginx path prefix,
i.e. a directory that will keep server files
(default value is I<C<E<sol>usrE<sol>localE<sol>nginx>>).



=item *

C<-q>E<mdash>suppress non-error messages
during configuration testing.



=item *

C<-s I<C<signal>>>E<mdash>send a I<signal>
to the master process.
The argument I<signal> can be one of:

=over



=item *

C<stop>E<mdash>shut down quickly


=item *

C<quit>E<mdash>shut down gracefully


=item *

C<reload>E<mdash>reload configuration,
start the new worker process with a new configuration,
gracefully shut down old worker processes.


=item *

C<reopen>E<mdash>reopen log files


=back





=item *

C<-t>E<mdash>test the configuration file: nginx checks the
configuration for correct syntax, and then tries to open files
referred in the configuration.



=item *

C<-T>E<mdash>same as C<-t>,
but additionally dump configuration files to standard output (1.9.2).



=item *

C<-v>E<mdash>print nginx version.



=item *

C<-V>E<mdash>print nginx version, compiler version,
and configure parameters.



=back