diff --git a/metropolis/cli/metroctl/cmd_node.go b/metropolis/cli/metroctl/cmd_node.go
index a582f02..18cec83 100644
--- a/metropolis/cli/metroctl/cmd_node.go
+++ b/metropolis/cli/metroctl/cmd_node.go
@@ -2,19 +2,25 @@
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"log"
 	"os"
 	"strings"
+	"sync"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+	"golang.org/x/sync/semaphore"
 
 	"source.monogon.dev/go/clitable"
 	"source.monogon.dev/metropolis/cli/metroctl/core"
 	clicontext "source.monogon.dev/metropolis/cli/pkg/context"
 	"source.monogon.dev/metropolis/node/core/identity"
+	"source.monogon.dev/version"
 
+	"source.monogon.dev/metropolis/proto/api"
 	apb "source.monogon.dev/metropolis/proto/api"
 )
 
@@ -63,7 +69,7 @@
 
 var nodeUpdateCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Short:   "Updates the operating system of a cluster node.",
-	Use:     "update [NodeID] --bundle-url bundleURL [--activation-mode <none|reboot|kexec>]",
+	Use:     "update [NodeIDs]",
 	Example: "metroctl node update --bundle-url https://example.com/bundle.zip --activation-mode reboot metropolis-25fa5f5e9349381d4a5e9e59de0215e3",
 	RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		bundleUrl, err := cmd.Flags().GetString("bundle-url")
@@ -92,6 +98,15 @@
 			return fmt.Errorf("invalid value for flag activation-mode")
 		}
 
+		maxUnavailable, err := cmd.Flags().GetUint64("max-unavailable")
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		if maxUnavailable == 0 {
+			return errors.New("unable to update notes with max-unavailable set to zero")
+		}
+		unavailableSemaphore := semaphore.NewWeighted(int64(maxUnavailable))
+
 		ctx := clicontext.WithInterrupt(context.Background())
 
 		cacert, err := core.GetClusterCAWithTOFU(ctx, connectOptions())
@@ -118,6 +133,8 @@
 			ActivationMode: am,
 		}
 
+		var wg sync.WaitGroup
+
 		for _, n := range nodes {
 			// Filter the information we want client-side.
 			if len(qids) != 0 {
@@ -127,18 +144,65 @@
 				}
 			}
 
-			cc := dialAuthenticatedNode(ctx, n.Id, n.Status.ExternalAddress, cacert)
-			nodeMgmt := apb.NewNodeManagementClient(cc)
-			log.Printf("sending update request to: %s (%s)", n.Id, n.Status.ExternalAddress)
-			_, err := nodeMgmt.UpdateNode(ctx, updateReq)
-			if err != nil {
+			if err := unavailableSemaphore.Acquire(ctx, 1); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
+			wg.Add(1)
+
+			go func(n *api.Node) {
+				defer wg.Done()
+				cc := dialAuthenticatedNode(ctx, n.Id, n.Status.ExternalAddress, cacert)
+				nodeMgmt := apb.NewNodeManagementClient(cc)
+				log.Printf("sending update request to: %s (%s)", n.Id, n.Status.ExternalAddress)
+				start := time.Now()
+				_, err := nodeMgmt.UpdateNode(ctx, updateReq)
+				if err != nil {
+					log.Printf("update request to node %s failed: %v", n.Id, err)
+					// A failed UpdateNode does not mean that the node is now unavailable as it
+					// hasn't started activating yet.
+					unavailableSemaphore.Release(1)
+				}
+				// Wait for the internal activation sleep plus the heartbeat
+				// to make sure the node has missed one heartbeat (or is
+				// back up already).
+				time.Sleep((5 + 10) * time.Second)
+				for {
+					select {
+					case <-time.After(10 * time.Second):
+						nodes, err := core.GetNodes(ctx, mgmt, fmt.Sprintf("node.id == %q", n.Id))
+						if err != nil {
+							log.Printf("while getting node status for %s: %v", n.Id, err)
+						}
+						if len(nodes) == 0 {
+							log.Printf("node status for %s returned no node", n.Id)
+						}
+						if len(nodes) > 1 {
+							log.Printf("node status for %s returned too many nodes (%d)", n.Id, len(nodes))
+						}
+						s := nodes[0]
+						if s.Health == api.Node_HEALTHY {
+							if s.Status != nil && s.Status.Version != nil {
+								log.Printf("node %s updated in %v to version %s", s.Id, time.Since(start), version.Semver(s.Status.Version))
+							} else {
+								log.Printf("node %s updated in %v to unknown version", s.Id, time.Since(start))
+							}
+							unavailableSemaphore.Release(1)
+							return
+						}
+					case <-ctx.Done():
+						log.Printf("update to node %s incomplete", n.Id)
+						return
+					}
+				}
+			}(n)
 		}
 
+		// Wait for all update processes to finish
+		wg.Wait()
+
 		return nil
 	},
-	Args: cobra.ExactArgs(1),
+	Args: cobra.MinimumNArgs(1),
 }
 
 var nodeDeleteCmd = &cobra.Command{
@@ -198,6 +262,7 @@
 func init() {
 	nodeUpdateCmd.Flags().String("bundle-url", "", "The URL to the new version")
 	nodeUpdateCmd.Flags().String("activation-mode", "reboot", "How the update should be activated (kexec, reboot, none)")
+	nodeUpdateCmd.Flags().Uint64("max-unavailable", 1, "Maximum nodes which can be unavailable during the update process")
 
 	nodeDeleteCmd.Flags().Bool("bypass-has-roles", false, "Allows to bypass the HasRoles check")
 	nodeDeleteCmd.Flags().Bool("bypass-not-decommissioned", false, "Allows to bypass the NotDecommissioned check")