diff --git a/nixos/tests/homepage-dashboard.nix b/nixos/tests/homepage-dashboard.nix
index 56e077f5ff6d..dd36473e8ac0 100644
--- a/nixos/tests/homepage-dashboard.nix
+++ b/nixos/tests/homepage-dashboard.nix
@@ -2,13 +2,35 @@ import ./make-test-python.nix ({ lib, ... }: {
   name = "homepage-dashboard";
   meta.maintainers = with lib.maintainers; [ jnsgruk ];
 
-  nodes.machine = { pkgs, ... }: {
+  nodes.unmanaged_conf = { pkgs, ... }: {
     services.homepage-dashboard.enable = true;
   };
 
+  nodes.managed_conf = { pkgs, ... }: {
+    services.homepage-dashboard = {
+      enable = true;
+      settings.title = "custom";
+    };
+  };
+
   testScript = ''
-    machine.wait_for_unit("homepage-dashboard.service")
-    machine.wait_for_open_port(8082)
-    machine.succeed("curl --fail http://localhost:8082/")
+    # Ensure the services are started on unmanaged machine
+    unmanaged_conf.wait_for_unit("homepage-dashboard.service")
+    unmanaged_conf.wait_for_open_port(8082)
+    unmanaged_conf.succeed("curl --fail http://localhost:8082/")
+
+    # Ensure that /etc/homepage-dashboard doesn't exist, and boilerplate
+    # configs are copied into place.
+    unmanaged_conf.fail("test -d /etc/homepage-dashboard")
+    unmanaged_conf.succeed("test -f /var/lib/private/homepage-dashboard/settings.yaml")
+
+    # Ensure the services are started on managed machine
+    managed_conf.wait_for_unit("homepage-dashboard.service")
+    managed_conf.wait_for_open_port(8082)
+    managed_conf.succeed("curl --fail http://localhost:8082/")
+
+    # Ensure /etc/homepage-dashboard is created and unmanaged conf location isn't.
+    managed_conf.succeed("test -d /etc/homepage-dashboard")
+    managed_conf.fail("test -f /var/lib/private/homepage-dashboard/settings.yaml")
   '';
 })