diff --git a/.github/workflows/image.yml b/.github/workflows/image.yml
index 3a1d361..f96b0d3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/image.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/image.yml
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ jobs:
           xorriso -indev "$iso" -report_el_torito plain 2>/dev/null | tee /dev/stderr | grep -q "UEFI"
           xorriso -osirrox on -indev "$iso" -extract /autoinstall.yaml autoinstall.yaml -extract /boot/grub/grub.cfg grub.cfg
           python3 -c "import yaml; d = yaml.safe_load(open('autoinstall.yaml')); assert d['autoinstall']['version'] == 1"
-          grep -q "Install Virtuality" grub.cfg
+          grep -q "Установить Virtuality" grub.cfg
       # Ubuntu server ISOs are larger than the 2 GB GitHub release asset limit,
       # so images are published as workflow artifacts.
       - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
diff --git a/install_virtuality_node.sh b/install_virtuality_node.sh
index 6eb7057..fb93c54 100644
--- a/install_virtuality_node.sh
+++ b/install_virtuality_node.sh
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ MIN_RAM_MB="${VIRTUALITY_MIN_RAM_MB:-4096}"
 MIN_CPU_CORES="${VIRTUALITY_MIN_CPU_CORES:-2}"
 SKIP_REQUIREMENTS="${VIRTUALITY_SKIP_REQUIREMENTS:-0}"
 export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
+# Keep existing configuration files without asking: there is nobody to answer on first boot.
+APT_OPTS=(-o Dpkg::Options::=--force-confdef -o Dpkg::Options::=--force-confold)
 
 ESC="\033"
 RESET="${ESC}[0m"
@@ -74,15 +76,18 @@ run_logged() {
   spinner=("⠋" "⠙" "⠹" "⠸" "⠼" "⠴" "⠦" "⠧" "⠇" "⠏")
   i=0
   while kill -0 "$pid" 2>/dev/null; do
-    elapsed=$(( $(date +%s) - start_ts ))
-    symbol="${spinner[$((i % ${#spinner[@]}))]}"
-    printf "\r  ${CYAN}%s${RESET} %s... ${GRAY}%ss${RESET} ${GRAY}(лог: %s)${RESET}" "$symbol" "$description" "$elapsed" "$LOG_FILE"
+    # The spinner only makes sense on a terminal; first boot writes this output to a log.
+    if [[ -t 1 ]]; then
+      elapsed=$(( $(date +%s) - start_ts ))
+      symbol="${spinner[$((i % ${#spinner[@]}))]}"
+      printf "\r  ${CYAN}%s${RESET} %s... ${GRAY}%ss${RESET} ${GRAY}(лог: %s)${RESET}" "$symbol" "$description" "$elapsed" "$LOG_FILE"
+    fi
     sleep 1
     i=$((i + 1))
   done
-  wait "$pid"
-  code=$?
-  printf "\r%*s\r" 120 ""
+  code=0
+  wait "$pid" || code=$?
+  [[ -t 1 ]] && printf "\r%*s\r" 120 ""
   if [[ "$code" -eq 0 ]]; then
     ok "$description"
   else
@@ -103,7 +108,7 @@ install_available() {
       warn "Пакет ${pkg} недоступен в этом дистрибутиве, пропускаю"
     fi
   done
-  run_logged "$description" apt install -y "${available[@]}"
+  run_logged "$description" apt-get install -y "${APT_OPTS[@]}" "${available[@]}"
 }
 
 service_state() { systemctl is-active "$1" 2>/dev/null || echo "inactive"; }
@@ -164,7 +169,9 @@ else
 fi
 
 step "Обновляем apt cache"
-run_logged "apt update выполнен" apt update
+run_logged "apt update выполнен" apt-get update
+# A previous attempt may have stopped half way (power loss, a question from dpkg): finish it first.
+run_logged "Незавершённые установки пакетов доделаны" dpkg --configure -a --force-confdef --force-confold
 
 step "Устанавливаем базовые утилиты и зависимости диагностики"
 install_available "Базовые пакеты и диагностические утилиты установлены" \
diff --git a/scripts/install_web_panel.sh b/scripts/install_web_panel.sh
index 1d8546e..45c14ed 100644
--- a/scripts/install_web_panel.sh
+++ b/scripts/install_web_panel.sh
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ if [[ "$PANEL_ONLY" == "1" ]]; then
   ok "Пропущено (VIRTUALITY_PANEL_ONLY=1): пакеты поставит установщик ноды"
 elif command -v apt-get >/dev/null 2>&1; then
   run_logged "apt update выполнен" apt-get update
-  run_logged "Пакеты панели установлены" apt-get install -y python3 python3-venv rsync openssl curl nftables novnc python3-websockify qemu-utils virtinst libvirt-clients cloud-image-utils
+  run_logged "Пакеты панели установлены" apt-get install -y -o Dpkg::Options::=--force-confdef -o Dpkg::Options::=--force-confold python3 python3-venv rsync openssl curl nftables novnc python3-websockify qemu-utils virtinst libvirt-clients cloud-image-utils
 else
   warn "apt не найден — пакеты не устанавливались"
 fi
diff --git a/scripts/virtuality-ctl b/scripts/virtuality-ctl
index 404e3d7..62d01ec 100755
--- a/scripts/virtuality-ctl
+++ b/scripts/virtuality-ctl
@@ -253,12 +253,16 @@ ${LOG_DIR}/*.log {
 EOF
 
   # Guests shut down gracefully with the host instead of being killed (Proxmox behaviour).
-  cat > /etc/default/libvirt-guests <<EOF
+  # Only once libvirt is installed: the file is a dpkg conffile, and creating it earlier (the panel is
+  # installed first on the image) makes the libvirt package stop at a "keep your version?" question.
+  if [[ -f /usr/lib/libvirt/libvirt-guests.sh ]]; then
+    cat > /etc/default/libvirt-guests <<EOF
 ON_BOOT=ignore
 ON_SHUTDOWN=shutdown
 SHUTDOWN_TIMEOUT=180
 PARALLEL_SHUTDOWN=5
 EOF
+  fi
 
   systemctl daemon-reload
   systemctl enable virtuality-web.service virtuality-network.service virtuality-maintenance.timer >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
diff --git a/scripts/virtuality_firstboot.sh b/scripts/virtuality_firstboot.sh
index 47988ae..9f9c599 100755
--- a/scripts/virtuality_firstboot.sh
+++ b/scripts/virtuality_firstboot.sh
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ say "source: ${SOURCE_DIR}, panel user: ${AUTH_USER}, port: ${VIRTUALITY_WEB_POR
 cd "$SOURCE_DIR"
 
 # unattended-upgrades often holds the dpkg lock right after the first boot.
-printf 'DPkg::Lock::Timeout "900";\n' > "$APT_LOCK_CONF"
+printf 'DPkg::Lock::Timeout "900";\nDPkg::Options { "--force-confdef"; "--force-confold"; };\n' > "$APT_LOCK_CONF"
 
 cat > "$ISSUE_FILE" <<'EOF'
 Virtuality настраивается. Ход установки: sudo journalctl -fu virtuality-firstboot