+++
title = "Prerequisites"
weight = 2
chapter = true
pre = "<b>2. </b>"
+++

## Prerequisites

- You need to have an active AWS account. 
    - If you don’t have one,[create and activate a new AWS account.](https://aws.amazon.com/premiumsupport/knowledge-center/create-and-activate-aws-account/)
- You need to have an active Confluent Cloud account. 
	- If you already have an account [skip to section 4](/4.creating-a-confluent-cloud-kafka-cluster.html)
    - If you don’t have one [create a Confluent Cloud account](/3.signing-up-for-confluent-cloud.html)