diff --git a/src/lifecycle/place.ts b/src/lifecycle/place.ts
index 8f2a785..90076de 100644
--- a/src/lifecycle/place.ts
+++ b/src/lifecycle/place.ts
@@ -626,3 +626,26 @@ export async function loadHeldImages(
 
   return held;
 }
+
+/**
+ * Install the host's systemd packaging, so the installer supervises it as a service rather than a
+ * background process — the path a real machine takes, and the only one that survives a reboot. The
+ * lab places the binary at HOST_PATH; the shipped launcher runs $MESH_HOST_BIN (default
+ * /usr/bin/nox-mesh-host), so a symlink points that at the binary rather than editing the packaged
+ * unit. The installer's --host-service then starts AND enables it (novox/hq ADR 0005).
+ */
+export async function installHostService(
+  instanceName: string,
+  machine: string,
+  packagingDir: string,
+  logMessage: (message: string) => void = () => {},
+): Promise<void> {
+  const launcher = join(packagingDir, "nox-mesh-host-launch");
+  const unit = join(packagingDir, "nox-mesh-host.service");
+  await incus(["exec", instanceName, "--", "mkdir", "-p", "/usr/lib/nox-mesh-host"], 60_000);
+  await incus(["file", "push", launcher, `${instanceName}/usr/lib/nox-mesh-host/launch`, "--mode", "0755"], 120_000);
+  await incus(["file", "push", unit, `${instanceName}/etc/systemd/system/nox-mesh-host.service`, "--mode", "0644"], 120_000);
+  await incus(["exec", instanceName, "--", "ln", "-sf", HOST_PATH, "/usr/bin/nox-mesh-host"], 60_000);
+  await incus(["exec", instanceName, "--", "systemctl", "daemon-reload"], 60_000);
+  logMessage(`installed nox-mesh-host.service on ${machine}`);
+}
diff --git a/test/integration/genesis.ts b/test/integration/genesis.ts
index 7a0be91..64222cb 100644
--- a/test/integration/genesis.ts
+++ b/test/integration/genesis.ts
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@ import { execFileSync } from "node:child_process";
 import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
 import { join, resolve } from "node:path";
 import { exec, instanceNameOf, push } from "../../src/lifecycle/operate.ts";
-import { placeBootstrap, BOOTSTRAP_PATH, HOST_PATH } from "../../src/lifecycle/place.ts";
+import { placeBootstrap, installHostService, BOOTSTRAP_PATH, HOST_PATH } from "../../src/lifecycle/place.ts";
+import { dirname } from "node:path";
 
 /** What genesis did, or where it stopped. */
 export interface GenesisResult {
@@ -72,6 +73,11 @@ export interface GenesisOptions {
   /** The site the anchor is placed at on the private network. Must match how the operator/test
    *  places it afterwards, or the first re-place changes the overlay and recreates the control plane. */
   site?: string;
+  /** Supervise the host as a systemd service (the real install path) instead of --host-in-background,
+   *  so it survives a reboot. Needs hostBinary to locate the packaging. */
+  hostService?: boolean;
+  /** The built mesh-host binary on this workstation; its repo's packaging/ dir supplies the unit. */
+  hostBinary?: string;
   /** What of the catalogue to build. A branch under test is the usual reason this is not main. */
   catalogRef?: string;
   log?: (m: string) => void;
@@ -145,6 +151,16 @@ export async function genesis(o: GenesisOptions): Promise<GenesisResult> {
   writeFileSync(local, o.bundleTemplate);
   await push(o.instanceId, node, local, "/tmp/substrate-template.lock");
 
+  // Supervise the host as a service (the real install path) when asked — the only way it survives a
+  // reboot. Installs the shipped packaging in the machine, then lets --host-service start+enable it.
+  if (o.hostService) {
+    if (!o.hostBinary) {
+      return stop("preparing the host service", "hostService needs hostBinary to find the packaging");
+    }
+    await installHostService(name, node, join(dirname(o.hostBinary), "packaging"), (m) => log(`genesis:${m}`));
+    report.push(`  host              supervised by nox-mesh-host.service`);
+  }
+
   const command = [
     BOOTSTRAP_PATH,
     `--source ${o.source}`,
@@ -166,9 +182,9 @@ export async function genesis(o: GenesisOptions): Promise<GenesisResult> {
     `--private-network wireguard`,
     `--packet-filter nftables`,
     `--host ${HOST_PATH}`,
-    // The lab has no unit to supervise the host with, and the installer refuses to invent one — a
-    // unit file is a packaging decision. A host started this way does not survive a reboot.
-    `--host-in-background`,
+    // A service when the packaging was installed above (survives a reboot); otherwise the
+    // background process, which does not — the installer refuses to invent a unit either way.
+    ...(o.hostService ? [] as string[] : [`--host-in-background`]),
   ].join(" ");
 
   // Run up to three times. Not to paper over a failure — every attempt's failing step is printed —
diff --git a/test/integration/one-node-mesh.test.ts b/test/integration/one-node-mesh.test.ts
index 8619c08..4f17c66 100644
--- a/test/integration/one-node-mesh.test.ts
+++ b/test/integration/one-node-mesh.test.ts
@@ -492,6 +492,9 @@ before(async () => {
         // The same site N1 re-places the anchor at, so N1 is a no-op and the control plane is not
         // recreated mid-test (its --add-host would otherwise change).
         site: "hosting",
+        // Supervise the host as a service so it survives the reboot check (E2).
+        hostService: true,
+        hostBinary: binary,
         log: (m) => console.log(m),
       });
     } catch (err) {