diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/tests/age_keys.py b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/tests/age_keys.py
index ef10335f6..5c38ad35a 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/tests/age_keys.py
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/tests/age_keys.py
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 import dataclasses
 import json
-import os
 from collections.abc import Iterable
 from pathlib import Path
 
@@ -26,7 +25,7 @@ class SopsSetup:
 
     def __init__(self, keys: list[KeyPair]) -> None:
         self.keys = keys
-        self.user = os.environ.get("USER", "admin")
+        self.user = "admin"
 
     def init(self, flake_path: Path) -> None:
         cli.run(
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/tests/fixtures_flakes.py b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/tests/fixtures_flakes.py
index 060776503..be434265a 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/tests/fixtures_flakes.py
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/tests/fixtures_flakes.py
@@ -422,3 +422,93 @@ def test_flake_with_core(
         monkeypatch=monkeypatch,
         inventory_expr=inventory_expr,
     )
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def writable_clan_core(
+    clan_core: Path,
+    tmp_path: Path,
+) -> Path:
+    """
+    Creates a writable copy of clan_core in a temporary directory.
+    If clan_core is a git repo, copies tracked files and uncommitted changes.
+    Removes vars/ and sops/ directories if they exist.
+    """
+    temp_flake = tmp_path / "clan-core"
+
+    # Check if it's a git repository
+    if (clan_core / ".git").exists():
+        # Create the target directory
+        temp_flake.mkdir(parents=True)
+
+        # Copy all tracked and untracked files (excluding ignored)
+        # Using git ls-files with -z for null-terminated output to handle filenames with spaces
+        sp.run(
+            f"(git ls-files -z; git ls-files -z --others --exclude-standard) | "
+            f"xargs -0 cp --parents -t {temp_flake}/",
+            shell=True,
+            cwd=clan_core,
+            check=True,
+        )
+
+        # Copy .git directory to maintain git functionality
+        if (clan_core / ".git").is_dir():
+            shutil.copytree(
+                clan_core / ".git", temp_flake / ".git", ignore_dangling_symlinks=True
+            )
+        else:
+            # It's a git file (for submodules/worktrees)
+            shutil.copy2(clan_core / ".git", temp_flake / ".git")
+    else:
+        # Regular copy if not a git repo
+        shutil.copytree(clan_core, temp_flake, ignore_dangling_symlinks=True)
+
+    # Make writable
+    sp.run(["chmod", "-R", "+w", str(temp_flake)], check=True)
+
+    # Remove vars and sops directories
+    shutil.rmtree(temp_flake / "vars", ignore_errors=True)
+    shutil.rmtree(temp_flake / "sops", ignore_errors=True)
+
+    return temp_flake
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def vm_test_flake(
+    clan_core: Path,
+    tmp_path: Path,
+) -> Path:
+    """
+    Creates a test flake that imports the VM test nixOS modules from clan-core.
+    """
+    test_flake_dir = tmp_path / "test-flake"
+    test_flake_dir.mkdir(parents=True)
+
+    metadata = sp.run(
+        nix_command(["flake", "metadata", "--json"]),
+        cwd=CLAN_CORE,
+        capture_output=True,
+        text=True,
+        check=True,
+    ).stdout.strip()
+    metadata_json = json.loads(metadata)
+    clan_core_url = f"path:{metadata_json['path']}"
+
+    # Read the template and substitute the clan-core path
+    template_path = Path(__file__).parent / "vm_test_flake.nix"
+    template_content = template_path.read_text()
+
+    # Substitute the clan-core URL
+    flake_content = template_content.replace("__CLAN_CORE__", clan_core_url)
+
+    # Write the flake.nix
+    (test_flake_dir / "flake.nix").write_text(flake_content)
+
+    # Lock the flake with --allow-dirty to handle uncommitted changes
+    sp.run(
+        nix_command(["flake", "lock", "--allow-dirty-locks"]),
+        cwd=test_flake_dir,
+        check=True,
+    )
+
+    return test_flake_dir
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/tests/flake-module.nix b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/tests/flake-module.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c8835a0e7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/tests/flake-module.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,119 @@
+{ self, ... }:
+{
+  # Define machines that use the nixOS modules
+  clan.machines = {
+    test-vm-persistence = {
+      imports = [ self.nixosModules.test-vm-persistence ];
+    };
+    test-vm-deployment = {
+      imports = [ self.nixosModules.test-vm-deployment ];
+    };
+  };
+
+  flake.nixosModules = {
+    # NixOS module for test_vm_persistence
+    test-vm-persistence =
+      { config, ... }:
+      {
+        nixpkgs.hostPlatform = "x86_64-linux";
+        system.stateVersion = config.system.nixos.release;
+
+        # Disable services that might cause issues in tests
+        systemd.services.logrotate-checkconf.enable = false;
+        services.getty.autologinUser = "root";
+
+        # Basic networking setup
+        networking.useDHCP = false;
+        networking.firewall.enable = false;
+
+        # VM-specific settings
+        clan.virtualisation.graphics = false;
+        clan.core.networking.targetHost = "client";
+
+        # State configuration for persistence test
+        clan.core.state.my_state.folders = [
+          "/var/my-state"
+          "/var/user-state"
+        ];
+
+        # Initialize users for tests
+        users.users = {
+          root = {
+            initialPassword = "root";
+          };
+          test = {
+            initialPassword = "test";
+            isSystemUser = true;
+            group = "users";
+          };
+        };
+      };
+
+    # NixOS module for test_vm_deployment
+    test-vm-deployment =
+      { config, lib, ... }:
+      {
+        nixpkgs.hostPlatform = "x86_64-linux";
+        system.stateVersion = config.system.nixos.release;
+
+        # Disable services that might cause issues in tests
+        systemd.services.logrotate-checkconf.enable = false;
+        services.getty.autologinUser = "root";
+
+        # Basic networking setup
+        networking.useDHCP = false;
+        networking.firewall.enable = false;
+
+        # VM-specific settings
+        clan.virtualisation.graphics = false;
+
+        # SSH for deployment tests
+        services.openssh.enable = true;
+
+        # Initialize users for tests
+        users.users = {
+          root = {
+            initialPassword = "root";
+          };
+        };
+
+        # hack to make sure
+        sops.validateSopsFiles = false;
+        sops.secrets."vars/m1_generator/my_secret" = lib.mkDefault {
+          sopsFile = builtins.toFile "fake" "";
+        };
+
+        # Vars generators configuration
+        clan.core.vars.generators = {
+          m1_generator = {
+            files.my_secret = {
+              secret = true;
+              path = "/run/secrets/vars/m1_generator/my_secret";
+            };
+            script = ''
+              echo hello > "$out"/my_secret
+            '';
+          };
+
+          my_shared_generator = {
+            share = true;
+            files = {
+              shared_secret = {
+                secret = true;
+                path = "/run/secrets/vars/my_shared_generator/shared_secret";
+              };
+              no_deploy_secret = {
+                secret = true;
+                deploy = false;
+                path = "/run/secrets/vars/my_shared_generator/no_deploy_secret";
+              };
+            };
+            script = ''
+              echo hello > "$out"/shared_secret
+              echo hello > "$out"/no_deploy_secret
+            '';
+          };
+        };
+      };
+  };
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/tests/test_vars_deployment.py b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/tests/test_vars_deployment.py
index ae17ffff8..a5d726c9d 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/tests/test_vars_deployment.py
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/tests/test_vars_deployment.py
@@ -2,63 +2,33 @@ import json
 import subprocess
 import sys
 from contextlib import ExitStack
+from pathlib import Path
 
 import pytest
 from clan_cli.tests.age_keys import SopsSetup
-from clan_cli.tests.fixtures_flakes import ClanFlake
 from clan_cli.tests.helpers import cli
 from clan_cli.vms.run import inspect_vm, spawn_vm
-from clan_lib import cmd
 from clan_lib.flake import Flake
 from clan_lib.machines.machines import Machine
-from clan_lib.nix import nix_config, nix_eval, run
+from clan_lib.nix import nix_eval, run
 
 
 @pytest.mark.impure
 @pytest.mark.skipif(sys.platform == "darwin", reason="preload doesn't work on darwin")
 def test_vm_deployment(
-    flake: ClanFlake,
+    vm_test_flake: Path,
     sops_setup: SopsSetup,
 ) -> None:
-    # machine 1
-    config = nix_config()
-    machine1_config = flake.machines["m1_machine"]
-    machine1_config["nixpkgs"]["hostPlatform"] = config["system"]
-    machine1_config["clan"]["virtualisation"]["graphics"] = False
-    machine1_config["services"]["getty"]["autologinUser"] = "root"
-    machine1_config["services"]["openssh"]["enable"] = True
-    machine1_config["networking"]["firewall"]["enable"] = False
-    machine1_config["users"]["users"]["root"]["openssh"]["authorizedKeys"]["keys"] = [
-        # put your key here when debugging and pass ssh_port in run_vm_in_thread call below
-    ]
-    m1_generator = machine1_config["clan"]["core"]["vars"]["generators"]["m1_generator"]
-    m1_generator["files"]["my_secret"]["secret"] = True
-    m1_generator["script"] = """
-        echo hello > "$out"/my_secret
-    """
-    m1_shared_generator = machine1_config["clan"]["core"]["vars"]["generators"][
-        "my_shared_generator"
-    ]
-    m1_shared_generator["share"] = True
-    m1_shared_generator["files"]["shared_secret"]["secret"] = True
-    m1_shared_generator["files"]["no_deploy_secret"]["secret"] = True
-    m1_shared_generator["files"]["no_deploy_secret"]["deploy"] = False
-    m1_shared_generator["script"] = """
-        echo hello > "$out"/shared_secret
-        echo hello > "$out"/no_deploy_secret
-    """
-
-    flake.refresh()
-
-    sops_setup.init(flake.path)
-    cli.run(["vars", "generate", "--flake", str(flake.path)])
+    # Set up sops for the test flake machines
+    sops_setup.init(vm_test_flake)
+    cli.run(["vars", "generate", "--flake", str(vm_test_flake), "test-vm-deployment"])
 
     # check sops secrets not empty
     sops_secrets = json.loads(
         run(
             nix_eval(
                 [
-                    f"{flake.path}#nixosConfigurations.m1_machine.config.sops.secrets",
+                    f"{vm_test_flake}#nixosConfigurations.test-vm-deployment.config.sops.secrets",
                 ]
             )
         ).stdout.strip()
@@ -67,7 +37,7 @@ def test_vm_deployment(
     my_secret_path = run(
         nix_eval(
             [
-                f"{flake.path}#nixosConfigurations.m1_machine.config.clan.core.vars.generators.m1_generator.files.my_secret.path",
+                f"{vm_test_flake}#nixosConfigurations.test-vm-deployment.config.clan.core.vars.generators.m1_generator.files.my_secret.path",
             ]
         )
     ).stdout.strip()
@@ -75,15 +45,15 @@ def test_vm_deployment(
     shared_secret_path = run(
         nix_eval(
             [
-                f"{flake.path}#nixosConfigurations.m1_machine.config.clan.core.vars.generators.my_shared_generator.files.shared_secret.path",
+                f"{vm_test_flake}#nixosConfigurations.test-vm-deployment.config.clan.core.vars.generators.my_shared_generator.files.shared_secret.path",
             ]
         )
     ).stdout.strip()
     assert "no-such-path" not in shared_secret_path
-    # run nix flake lock
-    cmd.run(["nix", "flake", "lock"], cmd.RunOpts(cwd=flake.path))
 
-    vm1_config = inspect_vm(machine=Machine("m1_machine", Flake(str(flake.path))))
+    vm1_config = inspect_vm(
+        machine=Machine("test-vm-deployment", Flake(str(vm_test_flake)))
+    )
     with ExitStack() as stack:
         vm1 = stack.enter_context(spawn_vm(vm1_config, stdin=subprocess.DEVNULL))
         qga_m1 = stack.enter_context(vm1.qga_connect())
@@ -92,7 +62,7 @@ def test_vm_deployment(
         # check my_secret is deployed
         result = qga_m1.run(["cat", "/run/secrets/vars/m1_generator/my_secret"])
         assert result.stdout == "hello\n"
-        # check shared_secret is deployed on m1
+        # check shared_secret is deployed
         result = qga_m1.run(
             ["cat", "/run/secrets/vars/my_shared_generator/shared_secret"]
         )
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/tests/test_vms_cli.py b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/tests/test_vms_cli.py
index 913c98a80..a39b2a309 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/tests/test_vms_cli.py
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/tests/test_vms_cli.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ from pathlib import Path
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
 import pytest
-from clan_cli.tests.fixtures_flakes import ClanFlake, FlakeForTest
+from clan_cli.tests.fixtures_flakes import FlakeForTest
 from clan_cli.tests.helpers import cli
 from clan_cli.tests.stdout import CaptureOutput
 from clan_cli.vms.run import inspect_vm, spawn_vm
@@ -24,8 +24,7 @@ def test_inspect(
     assert "Cores" in output.out
 
 
-# @pytest.mark.skipif(no_kvm, reason="Requires KVM")
-@pytest.mark.skipif(True, reason="We need to fix vars support for vms for this test")
+@pytest.mark.skipif(no_kvm, reason="Requires KVM")
 @pytest.mark.impure
 def test_run(
     monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch,
@@ -60,30 +59,12 @@ def test_run(
 @pytest.mark.skipif(no_kvm, reason="Requires KVM")
 @pytest.mark.impure
 def test_vm_persistence(
-    flake: ClanFlake,
+    vm_test_flake: Path,
 ) -> None:
-    # set up a clan flake with some systemd services to test persistence
-    config = flake.machines["my_machine"]
-    config["nixpkgs"]["hostPlatform"] = "x86_64-linux"
-    # logrotate-checkconf doesn't work in VM because /nix/store is owned by nobody
-    config["systemd"]["services"]["logrotate-checkconf"]["enable"] = False
-    config["services"]["getty"]["autologinUser"] = "root"
-    config["clan"]["virtualisation"] = {"graphics": False}
-    config["clan"]["core"]["networking"] = {"targetHost": "client"}
-    config["clan"]["core"]["state"]["my_state"]["folders"] = [
-        # to be owned by root
-        "/var/my-state",
-        # to be owned by user 'test'
-        "/var/user-state",
-    ]
-    config["users"]["users"] = {
-        "test": {"initialPassword": "test", "isSystemUser": True, "group": "users"},
-        "root": {"initialPassword": "root"},
-    }
-
-    flake.refresh()
-
-    vm_config = inspect_vm(machine=Machine("my_machine", Flake(str(flake.path))))
+    # Use the pre-built test VM from the test flake
+    vm_config = inspect_vm(
+        machine=Machine("test-vm-persistence", Flake(str(vm_test_flake)))
+    )
 
     with spawn_vm(vm_config) as vm, vm.qga_connect() as qga:
         # create state via qmp command instead of systemd service
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/tests/vm_test_flake.nix b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/tests/vm_test_flake.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7a6aa25a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/tests/vm_test_flake.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+{
+  inputs.clan-core.url = "__CLAN_CORE__";
+
+  outputs =
+    { self, clan-core }:
+    let
+      clan = clan-core.lib.clan {
+        inherit self;
+        meta.name = "test-flake";
+        machines = {
+          test-vm-persistence = {
+            imports = [ clan-core.nixosModules.test-vm-persistence ];
+          };
+          test-vm-deployment = {
+            imports = [ clan-core.nixosModules.test-vm-deployment ];
+          };
+        };
+      };
+    in
+    {
+      inherit (clan.config) nixosConfigurations;
+      inherit (clan.config) nixosModules;
+      inherit (clan.config) clanInternals;
+      clan = clan.config;
+    };
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/vms/run.py b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/vms/run.py
index 467b5f6b2..07d25b628 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/vms/run.py
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/vms/run.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ from clan_lib.cmd import CmdOut, Log, RunOpts, handle_io, run
 from clan_lib.dirs import module_root, user_cache_dir, vm_state_dir
 from clan_lib.errors import ClanCmdError, ClanError
 from clan_lib.machines.machines import Machine
-from clan_lib.nix import nix_shell
+from clan_lib.nix import nix_shell, nix_test_store
 from clan_lib.vars.generate import run_generators
 
 from clan_cli.completions import add_dynamic_completer, complete_machines
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/default.nix b/pkgs/clan-cli/default.nix
index 425076dd6..1bf64f382 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-cli/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/default.nix
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
   templateDerivation,
   zerotierone,
   minifakeroot,
+  nixosConfigurations,
 }:
 let
   pyDeps = ps: [
@@ -225,6 +226,26 @@ pythonRuntime.pkgs.buildPythonApplication {
               # needed by flash list tests
               nixpkgs.legacyPackages.x86_64-linux.kbd
               nixpkgs.legacyPackages.x86_64-linux.glibcLocales
+
+              # Pre-built VMs for impure tests
+              pkgs.stdenv.drvPath
+              pkgs.bash.drvPath
+              pkgs.buildPackages.xorg.lndir
+              (pkgs.perl.withPackages (
+                p: with p; [
+                  ConfigIniFiles
+                  FileSlurp
+                ]
+              ))
+              (pkgs.closureInfo { rootPaths = [ ]; }).drvPath
+              pkgs.desktop-file-utils
+              pkgs.dbus
+              pkgs.unzip
+              pkgs.libxslt
+              pkgs.getconf
+
+              nixosConfigurations.test-vm-persistence.config.system.clan.vm.create
+              nixosConfigurations.test-vm-deployment.config.system.clan.vm.create
             ];
           };
         }
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/flake-module.nix b/pkgs/clan-cli/flake-module.nix
index 3213e7991..d9cb14b71 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-cli/flake-module.nix
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/flake-module.nix
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
   ...
 }:
 {
+  imports = [ ./clan_cli/tests/flake-module.nix ];
+
   perSystem =
     {
       self',
@@ -55,6 +57,7 @@
             "age"
             "git"
           ];
+          inherit (self) nixosConfigurations;
         };
         clan-cli-full = pkgs.callPackage ./default.nix {
           inherit (inputs) nixpkgs nix-select;
@@ -64,6 +67,7 @@
           templateDerivation = templateDerivation;
           pythonRuntime = pkgs.python3;
           includedRuntimeDeps = lib.importJSON ./clan_lib/nix/allowed-packages.json;
+          inherit (self) nixosConfigurations;
         };
         clan-cli-docs = pkgs.stdenv.mkDerivation {
           name = "clan-cli-docs";