If a host in a vSphere DRS cluster is not entering maintenance mode after several minutes, what is the most appropriate action to take?

When a host in a vSphere DRS cluster is not entering maintenance mode, it generally indicates that the virtual machines (VMs) running on that host cannot be moved or are not being relocated to other hosts in the cluster. The most appropriate action in this scenario is to manually migrate the virtual machines using vSphere vMotion.

vSphere vMotion allows for the live migration of running VMs from one host to another without downtime, providing the ability to balance loads across hosts in the cluster and facilitating maintenance tasks like putting a host into maintenance mode. If VMs cannot be automatically migrated due to DRS not being able to schedule them, performing a manual vMotion ensures that all VMs are moved away from the host safely, allowing that host to enter maintenance mode.

Scheduling DRS to run again isn't necessary, as DRS should already be active; it simply may not have the resources or necessary conditions to move the VMs automatically at that moment. Configuring vSphere Lifecycle Manager and DRS integration may be important for operational efficiency and future tasks but wouldn't directly resolve the immediate issue. Enabling vSphere HA admission control, while beneficial for high availability, does not directly address the situation of moving VMs off a host for maintenance.