Add a reload option in the initscript. It should work as: pkill -HUP cherokee, or in your opinion by a specific lockfile with process number. Reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce:
the init script that comes bundled with cherokee has these extra states: reload) echo -n "Reloading $NAME configuration" start-stop-daemon --stop --pidfile $PIDFILE --signal HUP ;; rotate-logs) echo -n "Rotating logs" start-stop-daemon --stop --pidfile $PIDFILE --signal USR2 ;; restart) echo -n "Restarting the server closing all the opened connections" start-stop-daemon --stop --pidfile $PIDFILE --signal USR1 ;;
now in 0.11.6 :)