Managing Services

The Services tab on the server detail page lets you restart or reload core services running on your server without SSH-ing in manually.

Available Services

Nginx

Role: Web server and reverse proxy for all application types.

• Reload — Applies configuration changes (e.g., new vhost files, SSL certificates) without dropping active connections. Use this after modifying Nginx config files.
• Restart — Fully stops and restarts the Nginx process. This briefly interrupts all sites hosted on the server. Use only when a reload doesn't resolve the issue.

Apache

Role: Backend web server for WordPress applications (runs behind Nginx as a reverse proxy).

• Reload — Applies configuration changes without dropping connections.
• Restart — Fully restarts the Apache process.

PHP-FPM (8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4)

Role: FastCGI process manager that executes PHP code for WordPress applications.

Each installed PHP version has its own FPM service listed separately. Only the versions actually in use by your applications need attention.

• Restart — Restarts the PHP-FPM pool for that specific version. Use this after changing php.ini settings, switching PHP versions, or if PHP processes are stuck.

MariaDB

Role: MySQL-compatible relational database used by WordPress and other applications.

• Restart — Stops and restarts the MariaDB service. Active database connections will be dropped. Running queries may be interrupted.

PostgreSQL

Role: Advanced relational database for applications that require it.

• Restart — Stops and restarts the PostgreSQL service. Active connections will be dropped.

MongoDB

Role: NoSQL document database.

• Restart — Stops and restarts the MongoDB service. Active connections will be dropped.

Docker

Role: Container runtime for Docker-based applications.

• Restart — Restarts the Docker daemon. All running containers will be briefly stopped and then restarted. Use this if Docker becomes unresponsive or after daemon configuration changes.

How It Works

When you click a Reload or Restart button:

1. A confirmation dialog appears describing the impact of the action.
2. After confirmation, the command is sent to the server and executed.
3. A success or error notification appears in the top-right corner.
4. The action is recorded in the server's Audit Log.

Uninstalled Services

Services that are not installed on the server will fail gracefully when you attempt to restart them. For example, if your server only runs WordPress sites, restarting MongoDB or Docker will return an error but won't affect anything else.

Diagnostics

Below the services list, a Diagnostics section lets you run a quick health check on the server. Click Run Diagnostics to execute a scan that checks:

• Nginx configuration — Validates syntax of all Nginx config files.
• Listening ports — Shows which services are bound to which ports.
• Running services — Lists the status of all managed services.

The output appears in a terminal-style panel below the button. This is useful for debugging issues like port conflicts, misconfigured vhosts, or services that failed to start.