Graceful Server Reboot From WHM

Gracefully rebooting a server from WHM, or performing a "soft" reboot, means that your operating system allows for all services to be ended normally before the system starts the reboot process. This means that your server will request that all running services close their child processes before the services themselves are closed. Following this, the operating system itself will shut down and restart the server.

Graceful Server Reboots are generally considered safer on your system as a whole, as the system accepts rebooting as a planned event.

Graceful Server Reboots do not result in any data loss, as compared to a Forceful reboot, which is often compared to unplugging a computer from a wall, or a "hard" shutdown or reboot. They are more harmful to the operating system and the programs that are being run. Whenever possible, it is recommended to reboot your server gracefully.

Before continuing with this guide, please log in to WHM. This is usually done using the root username and your given password. If you are unfamiliar with how to do that, you may review several methods of accessing both cPanel and WHM at our Cpanel and WHM overview.

It is also possible to restart a server from the command line, as well. Additional information regarding CentOS commands can be found in our guide for Command Commands (CentOS 7).

Reboot Your Server Using WHM

Step One: From the WHM Home page, select the icon for System Reboot.

Step Two: Next, you should be presented with two choices:

• Forceful Server Reboot
• Graceful Server Reboot

Choose now Graceful Server Reboot.

Step Three: There should only be one option on this screen. To initiate the server reboot, select Proceed.

Step Four: At this point, you should expect to see a notification that the reboot is now in progress. This may take some time. When the server has completed rebooting, all of your system processes should be ready to use.