The latest source version of RNS on Aleph (1.5.5) has added --attach, --detach and --reload options to rnstatus.
This means you can now stop, start and reload interfaces live while an RNS instance is running.
I'll have this out relatively soon, but if you try it out in the meantime, let me know if anything is wonky.
The API functions are also exposed (Reticulum.reload_interface(name), et cetera), so applications that provide interface controls can use this for much easier hot-reloads, instead of having to restart the entire instance. It uses the latest config values from the configuration file on each attach/reload.
Enjoy!