Please note that Storage DRS cannot move VM templates via storage vMotion. This can impact load balancing operations or datastore maintenance mode operations. When initiating Datastore Maintenance mode, the following message is displayed:
As maintenance mode is commonly used for array migrations of datastore upgrade operations (VMFS-3 to VMFS-5), remember to convert the VM template to a virtual machine first before initiating maintenance mode.
I guess it won’t be long before we find out for sure, but I really hope that this ridiculous restriction gets lifted in the next update. Not being able to storage vMotion a set of powered-off files while being able to pull off live migrations just doesn’t make sense.
Some VMware customers (myself included) have brought this up in the VMware Customer Socialcast community & the Community Manager (@susangude) said it’s being re-requested. If you want to add your voice maybe ask her to add you to the community?
The best thing to do is to enter a feature request. Feature request go straight to product managers who are responsible for the development of future product releases and updates on current products. This is the shortest route possible.
You can find the feature request here: http://www.vmware.com/support/policies/feature.html