VMware docs :
Deployment of 3rd Party Agents and Anti-virus software on the ESXi Hypervisor and vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA)
The ESXi hypervisor is a specialized, purpose-built solution, similar to a network router’s firmware. While this approach has several advantages, it also makes ESXi unable to run “off-the-shelf” software, including security tools, designed for general-purpose operating systems as the ESXi runtime environment is dissimilar to other operating systems