How do I restart nginx web server under Linux or Unix operating systems using command line options?

To restart the nginx web server use any one of the following command as a root user. Open a terminal or login to the remote server using ssh.

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Debian/Ubuntu/RHEL/CentOS Linux

Use the following command:
# /etc/init.d/nginx restart
OR
# /etc/init.d/nginx reload
OR
# service nginx restart
OR
# service nginx reload
OR if you are using systemd based Linux distro:
$ sudo systemctl restart nginx
OR
$ sudo systemctl reload nginx
To view status:
# service nginx status
OR
$ sudo systemctl status nginx
Sample outputs:

However, recommend way is as follows. This should work with any Linux distributions or Unix-like operating systems:
# nginx -s reload
OR
# /path/to/full/nginx -s reload

If nginx compiled and installed from the source code

If nginx binary is installed at /usr/local/nginx/sbin/nginx, enter:
# /usr/local/nginx/sbin/nginx -s reload