diff --git a/checks/flake-module.nix b/checks/flake-module.nix
index 2e7526864..1fc6385be 100644
--- a/checks/flake-module.nix
+++ b/checks/flake-module.nix
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ in
     ./installation/flake-module.nix
     ./morph/flake-module.nix
     ./nixos-documentation/flake-module.nix
+    ./update/flake-module.nix
   ];
   perSystem =
     {
diff --git a/checks/update/flake-module.nix b/checks/update/flake-module.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0bde02525
--- /dev/null
+++ b/checks/update/flake-module.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+{
+  self,
+  config,
+  lib,
+  ...
+}:
+{
+  clan.machines = lib.listToAttrs (
+    lib.map (
+      system:
+      let
+        configuration = self.checks.${system}.update.nodes.machine.system.build.extendModules { };
+      in
+      lib.nameValuePair "test-update-machine-${system}" {
+        disabledModules = [ { key = "no-switch-to-configuration"; } ];
+
+        imports = configuration._module.args.modules ++ configuration._module.args.baseModules;
+
+        config = {
+          _module.args = { inherit (configuration._module.args) name; };
+
+          networking.hostName = lib.mkForce "machine";
+          clan.core.settings.machine.name = lib.mkForce "machine";
+
+          clan.core.networking.targetHost = "root@machine";
+
+          virtualisation.bootLoaderDevice = "/dev/vda";
+
+          environment.etc."testfile".text = "updated";
+        };
+      }
+    ) (lib.filter (lib.hasSuffix "linux") config.systems)
+  );
+
+  perSystem =
+    {
+      pkgs,
+      ...
+    }:
+    {
+      checks = pkgs.lib.mkIf (pkgs.stdenv.isLinux && !pkgs.stdenv.isAarch64) {
+        update = (import ../lib/test-base.nix) {
+          name = "update";
+
+          nodes = {
+            machine =
+              { pkgs, extendModules, ... }:
+              let
+                dependencies = [
+                  self
+                  pkgs.stdenv.drvPath
+                  pkgs.stdenvNoCC
+                  self.nixosConfigurations."test-update-machine-${pkgs.hostPlatform.system}".config.system.build.toplevel
+                  self.nixosConfigurations."test-update-machine-${pkgs.hostPlatform.system}".config.system.clan.deployment.file
+                ] ++ builtins.map (i: i.outPath) (builtins.attrValues self.inputs);
+                closureInfo = pkgs.closureInfo { rootPaths = dependencies; };
+
+                inherit (import "${pkgs.path}/nixos/tests/ssh-keys.nix" pkgs)
+                  snakeOilEd25519PrivateKey
+                  snakeOilEd25519PublicKey
+                  ;
+              in
+              {
+                environment.etc."install-closure".source = "${closureInfo}/store-paths";
+                system.extraDependencies = dependencies;
+                virtualisation.memorySize = 2048;
+                environment.systemPackages = [ self.packages.${pkgs.hostPlatform.system}.clan-cli-full ];
+                system.build = { inherit extendModules; };
+
+                services.openssh.enable = true;
+                users.users.root.openssh.authorizedKeys.keys = [
+                  snakeOilEd25519PublicKey
+                ];
+
+                system.build.privateKey = snakeOilEd25519PrivateKey;
+              };
+          };
+          testScript =
+            { nodes, ... }:
+            let
+              sshConfig = builtins.toFile "ssh.conf" ''
+                UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null
+                StrictHostKeyChecking=no
+              '';
+            in
+            ''
+              start_all()
+              machine.wait_for_open_port(22)
+
+              machine.fail("${lib.getExe pkgs.tree} /dev/disk")
+
+              machine.succeed("install -Dm 600 ${nodes.machine.system.build.privateKey} ~root/.ssh/id_ed25519")
+              machine.succeed("install ${sshConfig} ~root/.ssh/config")
+
+              machine.fail("cat /etc/testfile")
+              machine.succeed("env CLAN_DIR=${self} clan machines update test-update-machine-${pkgs.hostPlatform.system} --debug")
+              assert machine.succeed("cat /etc/testfile") == "updated"
+            '';
+        } { inherit pkgs self; };
+      };
+    };
+}
diff --git a/nixosModules/clanCore/metadata.nix b/nixosModules/clanCore/metadata.nix
index 644d16120..6a20c29e8 100644
--- a/nixosModules/clanCore/metadata.nix
+++ b/nixosModules/clanCore/metadata.nix
@@ -117,7 +117,6 @@ in
               options = {
                 name = mkOption {
                   type = types.str;
-                  readOnly = true;
                   description = ''
                     the name of the machine
                   '';