DRS Rules and maintenance mode

[mrennix123]

I have 8 ESXi hosts split into 2 DRS Host Groups (HOSTS_A and HOSTS_B). I also have some DRS rules that force VMs to be split across these 2 host groups.

I want to force all VMs in HOSTS_A to migrate to HOSTS_B if I put all the 4 hosts in HOSTS_A into maintenance mode simultaneously. But I'm unsure if the DRS rules that force the VMs to HOSTS_A will prevent the migration? Do I need to disable the rules before putting the hosts into maintenence mode?

[a_p_]

Do I need to disable the rules before putting the hosts into maintenance mode?

Yes, DRS will not violate "must" rules, nor will it allow you to migrate the VMs manually.

Do not try to disable DRS, as this will delete Resource Pools (if you have any).

André