VMs migrate onto ESXi host before the maintenance mode exit task completes and Zerto Replication Appliance can power on

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

When using the third party product Zerto protection, a Zerto Replication Appliance is deployed to each ESXi host.

• This appliance powers off when a ESXi host enters maintenance mode and powers on when the host exits maintenance mode.
• When an ESXi host exits maintenance mode, vSphere DRS can migrate VMs to the host while the task is still completing.
• This can result in VMs operating unprotected on the ESXi host until the Zerto Replication Appliance can initialize. 

Environment

vSphere 7.X
vSphere 8.x
vSphere 9.x

Resolution

Please see the following documentation from Zerto for managing ESXi host maintenance mode tasks. 
Managing Protection During VMware Host Maintenance