Described are techniques for obtaining configuration information and conditionally executing a system call in accordance with a specified configuration state. A host issues a request for configuration information from a data storage system. The data storage system maintains a separate table of configuration information representing a configuration state of the data storage system. The host receives a response including a custom value indicating the current configuration state. The host may issue a request to the data storage system to conditionally execute a call if the data storage system is in a configuration state corresponding to the custom value.