diff --git a/package/harvester-os/files/usr/bin/setup-installer.sh b/package/harvester-os/files/usr/bin/setup-installer.sh
index 83a09cd0e..6d52ca613 100755
--- a/package/harvester-os/files/usr/bin/setup-installer.sh
+++ b/package/harvester-os/files/usr/bin/setup-installer.sh
@@ -36,6 +36,22 @@ EOF
 
 }
 
+is_virtual_tty()
+{
+  local tty_name=$1
+  local tty_num=${tty_name#tty}
+  [[ ${tty_num} =~ ^[1-9][0-9]*$ ]]
+}
+
+is_serial_tty()
+{
+  local tty_name=$1
+  local tty_type
+
+  tty_type=$(cat "/sys/class/tty/${tty_name}/type")
+  [ "x${tty_type}" != "x0" ]
+}
+
 
 echo "Remove the getty service..."
 rm -rf "/etc/systemd/system/getty*"
@@ -43,40 +59,29 @@ rm -rf "/etc/systemd/system/getty*"
 echo "Remove the serial-getty service..."
 rm -rf "/etc/systemd/system/serial-getty*"
 
-# reverse the ttys to start from the last one
 read -r -a tty_list < /sys/class/tty/console/active
+preferred_virtual_tty=""
 
 for TTY in "${tty_list[@]}"; do
-  tty_num=${TTY#tty}
-
- #for arm64 the terminals are named /dev/ttyAMA*
- #skip /dev/ttyAMA* if an additional tty is present
- #on equinix metal /dev/ttyAMA is the only terminal available
- #so needs to be used as default option
-  PLATFORM=$(uname -m)
-  if [[ $PLATFORM == "aarch64" && ${#tty_list[@]} > 1 ]]
-  then
-    if  [[ $tty_num =~ ^AMA[0-9]+$ ]]; then
-      continue
-    fi
-  fi
-
-  # tty1 ~ tty64
-  if [[ $tty_num =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]]; then
+  if [[ ${TTY} == "tty1" ]]; then
     create_drop_in "/etc/systemd/system/getty@${TTY}.service.d"
-    
-    break
+    exit 0
+  fi
+  if [[ -z ${preferred_virtual_tty} ]] && is_virtual_tty "${TTY}"; then
+    preferred_virtual_tty=${TTY}
   fi
+done
 
- 
-  # might be serial console
+if [[ -n ${preferred_virtual_tty} ]]; then
+  create_drop_in "/etc/systemd/system/getty@${preferred_virtual_tty}.service.d"
+  exit 0
+fi
 
-  # check type is not 0
-  tty_type=$(cat "/sys/class/tty/${TTY}/type")
-  if [ "x${tty_type}" = "x0" ]; then
+for TTY in "${tty_list[@]}"; do
+  if ! is_serial_tty "${TTY}"; then
     continue
   fi
-  
+
   create_drop_in "/etc/systemd/system/serial-getty@${TTY}.service.d"
-  break
+  exit 0
 done
diff --git a/package/harvester-os/files/usr/sbin/harv-restart-services b/package/harvester-os/files/usr/sbin/harv-restart-services
index cee642d86..a7236ab42 100755
--- a/package/harvester-os/files/usr/sbin/harv-restart-services
+++ b/package/harvester-os/files/usr/sbin/harv-restart-services
@@ -1,3 +1,35 @@
 #!/bin/bash -ex
+
+restart_console_getty()
+{
+  read -r -a tty_list < /sys/class/tty/console/active
+  local preferred_virtual_tty=""
+
+  for TTY in "${tty_list[@]}"; do
+    if [[ ${TTY} == "tty1" ]]; then
+      systemctl restart "getty@${TTY}.service"
+      return 0
+    fi
+    tty_num=${TTY#tty}
+    if [[ -z ${preferred_virtual_tty} ]] && [[ ${tty_num} =~ ^[1-9][0-9]*$ ]]; then
+      preferred_virtual_tty=${TTY}
+    fi
+  done
+
+  if [[ -n ${preferred_virtual_tty} ]]; then
+    systemctl restart "getty@${preferred_virtual_tty}.service"
+    return 0
+  fi
+
+  for TTY in "${tty_list[@]}"; do
+    tty_type=$(cat "/sys/class/tty/${TTY}/type")
+    if [ "x${tty_type}" = "x0" ]; then
+      continue
+    fi
+    systemctl restart "serial-getty@${TTY}.service"
+    return 0
+  done
+}
+
 systemctl restart --no-block rancherd
-systemctl restart getty@tty1.service
\ No newline at end of file
+restart_console_getty
diff --git a/pkg/console/tty.go b/pkg/console/tty.go
index a841b7e69..e20e08155 100644
--- a/pkg/console/tty.go
+++ b/pkg/console/tty.go
@@ -2,12 +2,45 @@ package console
 
 import (
 	"os"
-	goruntime "runtime"
+	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 )
 
+func isVirtualTTY(tty string) bool {
+	if !strings.HasPrefix(tty, "tty") {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	ttyNum, err := strconv.Atoi(strings.TrimPrefix(tty, "tty"))
+	return err == nil && ttyNum > 0
+}
+
+func getPreferredConsoleTTY(ttys []string) string {
+	preferredVirtualTTY := ""
+
+	for _, tty := range ttys {
+		if tty == "tty1" {
+			return tty
+		}
+		if preferredVirtualTTY == "" && isVirtualTTY(tty) {
+			preferredVirtualTTY = tty
+		}
+	}
+
+	if preferredVirtualTTY != "" {
+		return preferredVirtualTTY
+	}
+
+	for _, tty := range ttys {
+		if tty != "tty0" {
+			return tty
+		}
+	}
+	return ttys[0]
+}
+
 func getFirstConsoleTTY() string {
 	b, err := os.ReadFile("/sys/class/tty/console/active")
 	if err != nil {
@@ -17,16 +50,7 @@ func getFirstConsoleTTY() string {
 
 	ttys := strings.Split(strings.TrimRight(string(b), "\n"), " ")
 	if len(ttys) > 0 {
-		// arm devices generally have first console as /dev/ttyAMA0
-		// this console is skipped in iso based installs due to display resolution issues
-		// as a result of this automatic install via ipxe fails since installer runs in
-		// say /dev/tty1 but first console returned by this method is ttyAMA0
-		// we are currently adding a check to skip AMA0 if it is the first console and return
-		// the second item in the list
-		if goruntime.GOARCH == "arm64" && strings.Contains(ttys[0], "AMA0") && len(ttys) > 1 {
-			return ttys[1]
-		}
-		return ttys[0]
+		return getPreferredConsoleTTY(ttys)
 	}
 	return ""
 }
diff --git a/pkg/console/tty_test.go b/pkg/console/tty_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..80ea800d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/console/tty_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+package console
+
+import "testing"
+
+func TestGetPreferredConsoleTTY(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name string
+		ttys []string
+		want string
+	}{
+		{
+			name: "prefer tty1 over serial",
+			ttys: []string{"ttyS0", "tty1"},
+			want: "tty1",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "prefer tty1 over earlier virtual tty",
+			ttys: []string{"tty2", "tty1"},
+			want: "tty1",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "skip tty0 when serial is available",
+			ttys: []string{"tty0", "ttyS0"},
+			want: "ttyS0",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "prefer first usable virtual tty",
+			ttys: []string{"ttyS0", "tty2"},
+			want: "tty2",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "keep ama console when it is the only usable option",
+			ttys: []string{"ttyAMA0"},
+			want: "ttyAMA0",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			got := getPreferredConsoleTTY(tt.ttys)
+			if got != tt.want {
+				t.Fatalf("getPreferredConsoleTTY(%v) = %q, want %q", tt.ttys, got, tt.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/console/util_test.go b/pkg/console/util_test.go
index 55573ef61..15f3e89b8 100644
--- a/pkg/console/util_test.go
+++ b/pkg/console/util_test.go
@@ -1120,56 +1120,56 @@ func Test_getAllValidDiskOptions(t *testing.T) {
 		expectedAllValidDiskOptions []widgets.Option
 	}{
 		{
-			name: "Disks with serial number",
+			name:                   "Disks with serial number",
 			mockedRunCommandOutput: []byte(sampleSerialDiskOutput),
 			expectedAllValidDiskOptions: []widgets.Option{
 				{
 					Value: "/dev/sda",
-					Text: "sda 250G",
+					Text:  "sda 250G",
 				},
 			},
 		},
 		{
-			name: "Disks with existing data",
+			name:                   "Disks with existing data",
 			mockedRunCommandOutput: []byte(reinstallDisks),
 			expectedAllValidDiskOptions: []widgets.Option{
 				{
 					Value: "/dev/sda",
-					Text: "sda 10G",
+					Text:  "sda 10G",
 				},
 				{
 					Value: "/dev/vda",
-					Text: "vda 250G",
+					Text:  "vda 250G",
 				},
 			},
 		},
 		{
-			name: "Disks on existing installs",
+			name:                   "Disks on existing installs",
 			mockedRunCommandOutput: []byte(preInstalledMultiPath),
 			expectedAllValidDiskOptions: []widgets.Option{
 				{
 					Value: "/dev/sda",
-					Text: "sda 250G",
+					Text:  "sda 250G",
 				},
 			},
 		},
 		{
-			name: "RAID disks",
+			name:                   "RAID disks",
 			mockedRunCommandOutput: []byte(raidDisks),
 			expectedAllValidDiskOptions: []widgets.Option{
 				{
 					Value: "/dev/sda",
-					Text: "sda 447.1G",
+					Text:  "sda 447.1G",
 				},
 				{
 					Value: "/dev/sdb",
-					Text: "sdb 447.1G",
+					Text:  "sdb 447.1G",
 				},
 			},
 		},
 		{
-			name: "No Valid Disks",
-			mockedRunCommandOutput: []byte(noValidDisks),
+			name:                        "No Valid Disks",
+			mockedRunCommandOutput:      []byte(noValidDisks),
 			expectedAllValidDiskOptions: []widgets.Option(nil),
 		},
 	}
@@ -1213,7 +1213,7 @@ func Test_getDataDisksOptions(t *testing.T) {
 			widgets.Option{Value: "/dev/sdb", Text: "sdb 447.1G"},
 		},
 		doc.getDataDiskOptions(hvstConfig),
-		)
+	)
 
 	// Change the installation disk to the second disk option
 	hvstConfig.Install.Device = doc.getAllValidDiskOptions()[1].Value
@@ -1223,7 +1223,7 @@ func Test_getDataDisksOptions(t *testing.T) {
 			widgets.Option{Value: "/dev/sda", Text: "sda 447.1G"},
 		},
 		doc.getDataDiskOptions(hvstConfig),
-		)
+	)
 }
 
 func Test_getWipeDisksOptions(t *testing.T) {
@@ -1244,7 +1244,7 @@ func Test_getWipeDisksOptions(t *testing.T) {
 			widgets.Option{Value: "/dev/sdc", Text: "sdc 250G"},
 		},
 		doc.getWipeDisksOptions(hvstConfig),
-		)
+	)
 
 	hvstConfig.Install.Device = "/dev/sdc"
 	hvstConfig.Install.DataDisk = ""