Amazon AppConfig Agent local development - Amazon AppConfig
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Amazon AppConfig Agent local development

Amazon AppConfig Agent supports a local development mode. If you enable local development mode, the agent reads configuration data from a specified directory on disk. It doesn't retrieve configuration data from Amazon AppConfig. You can simulate configuration deployments by updating files in the specified directory. We recommend local development mode for the following use cases:

  • Test different configuration versions before deploying them using Amazon AppConfig.

  • Test different configuration options for a new feature before committing changes to your code repository.

  • Test different configuration scenarios to verify they work as expected.

Warning

Don't use local development mode in production environments. This mode doesn't support important Amazon AppConfig safety features like deployment validation and automated rollbacks.

Use the following procedure to configure Amazon AppConfig Agent for local development mode.

To configure Amazon AppConfig Agent for local development mode

  1. Install the agent using the method described for your compute environment. Amazon AppConfig Agent works with the following Amazon Web Services:

  2. If the agent is running, stop it.

  3. Add LOCAL_DEVELOPMENT_DIRECTORY to the list of environment variables. Specify a directory on the filesystem that provides the agent with read permissions. For example, /tmp/local_configs.

  4. Create a file in the directory. The file name must use the following format:

    application_name:environment_name:configuration_profile_name

    Here is an example:

    Mobile:Development:EnableMobilePaymentsFeatureFlagConfiguration
    Note

    (Optional) You can control the content type the agent returns for your configuration data based on the extension you give the file. For example, if you name the file with a .json extension, the agent returns a content type of application/json when your application requests it. If you omit the extension, the agent uses application/octet-stream for the content type. If you need precise control, you can provide an extension in the format .type%subtype. The agent will return a content type of .type/subtype.

  5. Run the following command to restart the agent and request the configuration data.

    curl http://localhost:2772/applications/application_name/environments/environment_name/configurations/configuration_name

The agent checks for changes to the local file at the poll interval specified for the agent. If the poll interval isn't specified, the agent uses the default interval of 45 seconds. This check at the poll interval ensures that the agent behaves the same in a local development environment as it does when configured to interact with the Amazon AppConfig service.

Note

To deploy a new version of a local development configuration file, update the file with new data.