From e787efef5061cf56342821717bc04dc09bcbc113 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Bryan Venteicher <bryan.venteicher@broadcom.com>
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2025 12:37:49 -0600
Subject: [PATCH] Don't always backfill VM Status.Zone from label

When either is unset, or they have different values, lookup the
VM's zone and assign the zone to the label and status. To avoid
a lookup if both the label and status are set to the same value,
we'll just trust what is there.
---
 .../vsphere/vmlifecycle/update_status.go      | 13 ++-
 .../vsphere/vmlifecycle/update_status_test.go | 84 +++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 90 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)

diff --git a/pkg/providers/vsphere/vmlifecycle/update_status.go b/pkg/providers/vsphere/vmlifecycle/update_status.go
index 5cc2e1f7b..77aa181e5 100644
--- a/pkg/providers/vsphere/vmlifecycle/update_status.go
+++ b/pkg/providers/vsphere/vmlifecycle/update_status.go
@@ -361,14 +361,16 @@ func reconcileStatusZone(
 
 	var errs []error
 
-	zoneName := vmCtx.VM.Labels[corev1.LabelTopologyZone]
-	if zoneName == "" {
+	zoneLabel := vmCtx.VM.Labels[corev1.LabelTopologyZone]
+	zoneStatus := vmCtx.VM.Status.Zone
+
+	if zoneLabel == "" || zoneLabel != zoneStatus {
 		clusterMoRef, err := vcenter.GetResourcePoolOwnerMoRef(
 			vmCtx, vcVM.Client(), vmCtx.MoVM.ResourcePool.Value)
 		if err != nil {
 			errs = append(errs, err)
 		} else {
-			zoneName, err = topology.LookupZoneForClusterMoID(
+			zoneName, err := topology.LookupZoneForClusterMoID(
 				vmCtx, k8sClient, clusterMoRef.Value)
 			if err != nil {
 				errs = append(errs, err)
@@ -377,14 +379,11 @@ func reconcileStatusZone(
 					vmCtx.VM.Labels = map[string]string{}
 				}
 				vmCtx.VM.Labels[corev1.LabelTopologyZone] = zoneName
+				vmCtx.VM.Status.Zone = zoneName
 			}
 		}
 	}
 
-	if zoneName != "" {
-		vmCtx.VM.Status.Zone = zoneName
-	}
-
 	return errs
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/providers/vsphere/vmlifecycle/update_status_test.go b/pkg/providers/vsphere/vmlifecycle/update_status_test.go
index 5f21e03f5..aded41cfa 100644
--- a/pkg/providers/vsphere/vmlifecycle/update_status_test.go
+++ b/pkg/providers/vsphere/vmlifecycle/update_status_test.go
@@ -54,8 +54,11 @@ var _ = Describe("UpdateStatus", func() {
 	BeforeEach(func() {
 		ctx = suite.NewTestContextForVCSim(builder.VCSimTestConfig{})
 
+		nsInfo := ctx.CreateWorkloadNamespace()
+
 		vm := builder.DummyVirtualMachine()
 		vm.Name = "update-status-test"
+		vm.Namespace = nsInfo.Namespace
 
 		vmCtx = pkgctx.VirtualMachineContext{
 			Context: ctx,
@@ -67,6 +70,14 @@ var _ = Describe("UpdateStatus", func() {
 		vcVM, err = ctx.Finder.VirtualMachine(ctx, "DC0_C0_RP0_VM0")
 		Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
 
+		nsRP := ctx.GetResourcePoolForNamespace(nsInfo.Namespace, "", "")
+		task, err := vcVM.Relocate(ctx, vimtypes.VirtualMachineRelocateSpec{
+			Folder: ptr.To(nsInfo.Folder.Reference()),
+			Pool:   ptr.To(nsRP.Reference()),
+		}, vimtypes.VirtualMachineMovePriorityDefaultPriority)
+		Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+		Expect(task.Wait(ctx)).To(Succeed())
+
 		// Initialize with the expected properties. Tests can overwrite this if needed.
 		Expect(vcVM.Properties(
 			ctx,
@@ -2470,6 +2481,79 @@ var _ = Describe("UpdateStatus", func() {
 		})
 	})
 
+	Context("Zone", func() {
+		var zoneName string
+
+		BeforeEach(func() {
+			delete(vmCtx.VM.Labels, corev1.LabelTopologyZone)
+			vmCtx.VM.Status.Zone = ""
+
+			zoneName = ctx.GetFirstZoneName()
+		})
+
+		assertZones := func() {
+			GinkgoHelper()
+			Expect(vmCtx.VM.Labels).To(HaveKeyWithValue(corev1.LabelTopologyZone, zoneName))
+			Expect(vmCtx.VM.Status.Zone).To(Equal(zoneName))
+		}
+
+		Context("Neither label and status are set", func() {
+			It("Sets Zone", assertZones)
+		})
+
+		Context("Label and status are both set", func() {
+			BeforeEach(func() {
+				vmCtx.VM.Labels[corev1.LabelTopologyZone] = zoneName
+				vmCtx.VM.Status.Zone = zoneName
+			})
+			It("Zone still set", assertZones)
+		})
+
+		Context("Label is set but status is not", func() {
+			BeforeEach(func() {
+				vmCtx.VM.Labels[corev1.LabelTopologyZone] = zoneName
+			})
+			It("Sets Zone", assertZones)
+		})
+
+		Context("Label is not set but status is", func() {
+			BeforeEach(func() {
+				vmCtx.VM.Status.Zone = zoneName
+			})
+			It("Sets Zone", assertZones)
+		})
+
+		Context("Label is not set but status is", func() {
+			BeforeEach(func() {
+				vmCtx.VM.Status.Zone = zoneName
+			})
+			It("Sets Zone", assertZones)
+		})
+
+		Context("Label is not set but status is", func() {
+			BeforeEach(func() {
+				vmCtx.VM.Status.Zone = zoneName
+			})
+			It("Sets Zone", assertZones)
+		})
+
+		Context("Label is set to incorrect value", func() {
+			BeforeEach(func() {
+				vmCtx.VM.Labels[corev1.LabelTopologyZone] = "bogus"
+				vmCtx.VM.Status.Zone = zoneName
+			})
+			It("Sets Zone", assertZones)
+		})
+
+		Context("Status is set to incorrect value", func() {
+			BeforeEach(func() {
+				vmCtx.VM.Labels[corev1.LabelTopologyZone] = zoneName
+				vmCtx.VM.Status.Zone = "bogus"
+			})
+			It("Sets Zone", assertZones)
+		})
+	})
+
 	Context("Controllers", func() {
 		When("moVM.Config is nil", func() {
 			BeforeEach(func() {