

# Step 1: Configuring prerequisites
<a name="appconfig-experimentation-creating-prerequisites"></a>

Before you begin, complete the following tasks:
+ **[Install and configure Amazon AppConfig Agent](https://docs.amazonaws.cn/appconfig/latest/userguide/appconfig-agent.html)**: Amazon AppConfig experimentation requires Amazon AppConfig Agent to deliver treatments to users. The agent retrieves feature flag and other configuration data from Amazon AppConfig, caches it locally, and asynchronously polls the Amazon AppConfig data plane for updates. This approach keeps feature flag and other configuration data readily available to your application while reducing latency and cost. The following topics describe how to install and configure Amazon AppConfig Agent for each supported compute environment:
  + [Using Amazon AppConfig Agent with Amazon Lambda](appconfig-integration-lambda-extensions.md)
  + [Using Amazon AppConfig Agent with Amazon EC2 and on-premises machines](appconfig-integration-ec2.md)
  + [Using Amazon AppConfig Agent with Amazon ECS and Amazon EKS](appconfig-integration-containers-agent.md)

  Note that each section includes information about configuring IAM permissions so the agent can retrieve feature flags and other configuration data.