Example configuration methods and apparatus are described. An example communications system includes a master node and a secondary node that jointly provide a service for a terminal. One example method includes generating configuration information for a signaling radio bearer (SRB) by the secondary node, where the SRB is used to transmit a radio resource control (RRC) message between the secondary node and the terminal. The secondary node sends the configuration information for the SRB to the master node, so that the configuration information for the SRB is sent to the terminal through the master node. The secondary node receives a result of configuring the SRB by the terminal by using the configuration information for the SRB. In this way, the SRB can be established on the secondary node, and used for RRC message transmission between the secondary node and the terminal.