diff --git a/Panel/modules/administration/panel_update.php b/Panel/modules/administration/panel_update.php
index b3bae28e..bb6f0751 100644
--- a/Panel/modules/administration/panel_update.php
+++ b/Panel/modules/administration/panel_update.php
@@ -163,9 +163,17 @@ return [
 function gsp_validate_update_settings(array $cfg)
 {
 $errors = [];
-if (!preg_match('/^https?:\/\/[^ \t\r\n]+\.git$/i', (string)$cfg['repo_url'])
-&& !preg_match('/^(?:ssh:\/\/|git@)[^ \t\r\n]+$/i', (string)$cfg['repo_url'])) {
-$errors[] = 'Repository URL must be an http(s), ssh, or git@ URL.';
+$repo_source = trim((string)$cfg['repo_url']);
+$is_git_url = preg_match('/^https?:\/\/[^ \t\r\n]+(?:\.git)?$/i', $repo_source)
+|| preg_match('/^(?:ssh:\/\/|git@)[^ \t\r\n]+$/i', $repo_source);
+$is_local_path = preg_match('/^\//', $repo_source)
+&& strpos($repo_source, "\0") === false
+&& strpos($repo_source, '..') === false;
+if (!$is_git_url && !$is_local_path) {
+$errors[] = 'Repository source must be an http(s), ssh, git@ URL, or a safe absolute local path.';
+}
+if ($is_local_path && !is_dir($repo_source)) {
+$errors[] = 'Repository local path does not exist or is not a directory: ' . $repo_source;
 }
 if (!preg_match('/^[A-Za-z0-9._\/-]{1,128}$/', (string)$cfg['branch'])) {
 $errors[] = 'Branch/channel contains invalid characters.';
@@ -1020,14 +1028,22 @@ $temp_dir = sys_get_temp_dir() . '/gsp_git_' . time() . '_' . mt_rand(1000, 9999
 if (!@mkdir($temp_dir, 0750, true)) {
 return ['success' => false, 'error' => 'Cannot create temporary git checkout directory.'];
 }
+if (!function_exists('exec')) {
+gsp_rmdir_recursive($temp_dir);
+return ['success' => false, 'error' => 'PHP exec() is disabled, so the updater cannot run git clone.'];
+}
 $out = [];
 $ret = 0;
 $cmd = 'git clone --depth 1 --branch ' . escapeshellarg($branch) . ' ' . escapeshellarg($repo_url) . ' ' . escapeshellarg($temp_dir) . ' 2>&1';
+gsp_update_log('Starting configured git checkout from ' . $repo_url . ' branch ' . $branch);
 exec($cmd, $out, $ret);
 if ($ret !== 0) {
 gsp_rmdir_recursive($temp_dir);
-return ['success' => false, 'error' => 'git clone failed: ' . implode(' | ', array_slice($out, -20))];
+$tail = implode(' | ', array_slice($out, -20));
+gsp_update_log('Configured git checkout failed from ' . $repo_url . ' branch ' . $branch . ': ' . $tail);
+return ['success' => false, 'error' => 'git clone failed for repository source "' . $repo_url . '" branch "' . $branch . '": ' . $tail];
 }
+gsp_update_log('Configured git checkout completed from ' . $repo_url . ' branch ' . $branch);
 return ['success' => true, 'temp_dir' => $temp_dir, 'source_root' => $temp_dir, 'output' => implode("\n", $out)];
 }
 
@@ -2081,7 +2097,7 @@ echo "<h3>Repository Settings</h3>\n";
 echo "<form method='POST'>\n";
 echo "<input type='hidden' name='gsp_update_csrf' value='" . htmlspecialchars($csrf_token) . "'>\n";
 echo "<table class='center'>\n";
-echo "<tr><td><strong>Repository URL</strong></td><td><input type='text' name='gsp_update_repo_url' value='" . htmlspecialchars($update_cfg['repo_url'], ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8') . "' size='85'></td></tr>\n";
+echo "<tr><td><strong>Repository URL / Path</strong></td><td><input type='text' name='gsp_update_repo_url' value='" . htmlspecialchars($update_cfg['repo_url'], ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8') . "' size='85'></td></tr>\n";
 echo "<tr><td><strong>Branch / Channel</strong></td><td><input type='text' name='gsp_update_branch' value='" . htmlspecialchars($update_cfg['branch'], ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8') . "' size='40'></td></tr>\n";
 echo "<tr><td><strong>Repository Root</strong></td><td><input type='text' name='gsp_update_repo_root' value='" . htmlspecialchars($update_cfg['repo_root'], ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8') . "' size='85'></td></tr>\n";
 echo "<tr><td><strong>Panel Path</strong></td><td><input type='text' name='gsp_update_panel_path' value='" . htmlspecialchars($update_cfg['panel_path'], ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8') . "' size='85'></td></tr>\n";
diff --git a/docs/modules/UPDATE.md b/docs/modules/UPDATE.md
index 779cd219..07e9473e 100644
--- a/docs/modules/UPDATE.md
+++ b/docs/modules/UPDATE.md
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ The update page is intentionally simple:
 
 The admin page stores these settings in the Panel settings table:
 
-- `gsp_update_repo_url`
+- `gsp_update_repo_url` for the repository source. This may be a Git URL or a safe absolute local repository path.
 - `gsp_update_branch`
 - `gsp_update_repo_root`
 - `gsp_update_panel_path`
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ The admin page stores these settings in the Panel settings table:
 
 Defaults:
 
-- Repository URL: `http://forge.runlevelsystems.com/dev/GSP.git`
+- Repository URL / Path: `http://forge.runlevelsystems.com/dev/GSP.git`
 - Branch: `Panel-unstable`
 - Repository Root: `/var/www/html/GSP`
 - Panel Path: `/var/www/html/GSP/Panel`
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ Important implementation note:
 2. Validate repository URL, branch, repo root, and Panel path.
 3. Run preflight against the configured paths.
 4. Create a backup when enabled.
-5. Clone the configured repository branch into a temporary checkout.
+5. Clone the configured repository source and branch into a temporary checkout.
 6. Sync files into the configured root/Panel paths.
 7. Preserve `Panel/includes/config.inc.php`.
 8. Run module updates/post-update hooks.
@@ -64,3 +64,10 @@ The old repeated SSL vhost disable buttons are not part of the primary update pa
 
 - The updater still contains legacy GitHub release helper code that is no longer rendered by the simplified primary UI.
 - Real production testing should confirm file ownership and web-server permissions on `/var/www/html/GSP`.
+
+## Repair Notes
+
+- The update page fatal `Call to undefined function gsp_update_settings()` means the deployed `Panel/modules/administration/panel_update.php` is missing the top-level helper or is not the current repository copy.
+- `Panel/modules/update/update.php` only loads `Panel/modules/administration/panel_update.php` and calls `gsp_panel_update_section()`.
+- The configured update action uses `git clone --depth 1 --branch <configured branch> <configured repository source> <temporary checkout>`.
+- Clone failures are logged to `logs/update_trace.log` with the configured repository source and branch.