To gracefully restart an Nginx web server after making changes to a configuration file, you can use the following command:
nginx -s reload
This command sends a SIGHUP signal to the Nginx master process, which causes the master process to reload its configuration file and pass the new configuration to its worker processes. The -s option allows you to specify the type of signal to be sent to the Nginx process.
The graceful restart feature of Nginx enables it to reload its configuration file without interrupting ongoing client connections. This allows you to make changes to the configuration file without causing any downtime for your website.
Note: Before you make any changes to the Nginx configuration file, it is recommended to make a backup of the file and test the changes in a test environment. This will help you to avoid any potential configuration issues and ensure that your website continues to run smoothly.