A configuration serving network element may configure information about the configuration serving network element for a fifth generation (5G) network architecture. A terminal device may obtain the information about the configuration serving network element from the 5G network architecture. The information about the configuration serving network element includes address information of the configuration serving network element. Therefore, the terminal device can establish a connection to the configuration serving network element based on the address information of the configuration serving network element, so that the configuration serving network element can automatically configure the terminal device by using the 5G network architecture.