# Setting up Amazon MSK
<a name="before-you-begin"></a>

Before you use Amazon MSK for the first time, complete the following tasks.

**Topics**
+ [Sign up for an AWS account](#sign-up-for-aws)
+ [Download libraries and tools](#setting-up-downloads)

## Sign up for an AWS account
<a name="sign-up-for-aws"></a>

To get started with AWS, you need an AWS account. For information about creating an AWS account, see [Getting started with an AWS account](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/accounts/latest/reference/getting-started.html) in the *AWS Account Management Reference Guide*.

## Download libraries and tools
<a name="setting-up-downloads"></a>

The following libraries and tools can help you work with Amazon MSK: 
+ The [AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI)](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/userguide/) supports Amazon MSK. The AWS CLI enables you to control multiple Amazon Web Services from the command line and automate them through scripts. Upgrade your AWS CLI to the latest version to ensure that it has support for the Amazon MSK features that are documented in this user guide. For detailed instructions on how to upgrade the AWS CLI, see [Installing the AWS Command Line Interface](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/userguide/cli-chap-install.html). After you install the AWS CLI, you must configure it. For information on how to configure the AWS CLI, see [aws configure](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/configure/index.html).
+ The [Amazon Managed Streaming for Kafka API Reference](https://docs.aws.amazon.com//msk/1.0/apireference/what-is-msk.html) documents the API operations that Amazon MSK supports.
+ The Amazon Web Services SDKs for [Go](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/sdk-for-go/api/service/kafka/), [Java](https://aws.amazon.com/sdk-for-java/), [JavaScript](https://aws.amazon.com/sdk-for-javascript/), [.NET](https://aws.amazon.com/sdk-for-net/), [Node.js](https://aws.amazon.com/sdk-for-javascript/), [PHP](https://aws.amazon.com/developers/getting-started/php/), [Python](https://aws.amazon.com/sdk-for-python/), and [Ruby](https://aws.amazon.com/developers/getting-started/ruby/) include Amazon MSK support and samples.