Enter and Exit Maintenance Mode with ESXCLI

You place a host in maintenance mode to service it, for example, to install more memory. A host enters or leaves maintenance mode only as the result of a user request.
esxcli system maintenanceMode set
allows you to enable or disable maintenance mode. Specify one of the options listed in Connection Options for ESXCLI Host Management Commands in place of
<conn_options>
.
  1. To enter maintenance mode, run the following command.
    esxcli <conn_options> system maintenanceMode set --enable true
    After all virtual machines on the host have been suspended or migrated, the host enters maintenance mode.
    You cannot deploy or power on a virtual machine on hosts in maintenance mode.
  2. To exit maintenance mode, run the following command.
    esxcli <conn_options> system maintenanceMode set --enable false
    If you attempt to exit maintenance mode when the host is no longer in maintenance mode, an error informs you that maintenance mode is already disabled.