kill -HUP

Send SIGHUP to reload a process config without restarting

Most server daemons use SIGHUP as a config reload signal. nginx, rsyslog, and many others reload without dropping connections. Check the man page first.

Example

$ kill -HUP $(pgrep nginx)
(nginx reloads config, active connections kept)

Tip: Type it yourself in the terminal below - reading is not the same as doing.