diff --git a/tests/virt_autotest/login_console.pm b/tests/virt_autotest/login_console.pm
index 5a630b7063b3..36d2b57fd7b0 100644
--- a/tests/virt_autotest/login_console.pm
+++ b/tests/virt_autotest/login_console.pm
@@ -187,55 +187,31 @@ sub login_to_console {
         save_screenshot;
         #offline upgrade requires upgrading offline during reboot while online doesn't
         if (get_var('OFFLINE_UPGRADE')) {
-            #boot to upgrade menuentry
-            send_key 'down';
-            send_key 'ret';
-            #wait sshd up
-            die "Can not connect to machine to perform offline upgrade via ssh" unless (check_port_state(get_required_var('SUT_IP'), 22, 10));
-            save_screenshot;
-            #switch to ssh console
-            use_ssh_serial_console;
+            #wait offline upgrade starts with ssh port open
+            die "Offline upgrade failed to start because ssh port is not open" unless (check_port_state(get_required_var('SUT_IP'), 22, 30, 10));
+            record_info("First stage offline upgrade starts");
             save_screenshot;
-            #start upgrade
-            if (check_var('VIDEOMODE', 'text')) {
-                if (lc(get_var('VERSION_TO_INSTALL', '')) eq '12-sp5' and lc(get_var('UPGRADE_PRODUCT', '')) =~ /sles-15-sp[67]/) {
-                    # DISPLAY= might be culprit that prevents host upgrade from proceeding at SCC registration. Please refer to bsc#1218798.
-                    record_soft_failure("bsc#1218798 - [SLES][15-SP6][x86_64][Build46.40] Unable to create repository due to valid metadata not found");
-                    enter_cmd("yast.ssh");
-                }
-                else {
-                    enter_cmd("DISPLAY= yast.ssh");
-                }
+            #wait ssh port down after first stage upgrade finishes
+            my $wait_ssh_port_down = 7200;
+            while ($wait_ssh_port_down >= 0) {
+                last unless (check_port_state(get_required_var('SUT_IP'), 22));
+                sleep 30;
+                $wait_ssh_port_down -= 30;
             }
-            else {
-                enter_cmd("yast.ssh");
-            }
-            save_screenshot;
-            #wait upgrade finish
-            assert_screen('rebootnow', 2700);
+            die "First stage offline upgrade failed to finish after 2hrs" if (check_port_state(get_required_var('SUT_IP'), 22));
+            record_info("First stage offline upgrade finishes");
             save_screenshot;
-            send_key 'ret';
-            #leave ssh console and switch to sol console
-            switch_from_ssh_to_sol_console(reset_console_flag => 'on');
-            save_screenshot;
-            send_key 'ret';
-            #wait grub2 boot menu after first stage upgrade
-            unless (check_screen('grub2', timeout => 290)) {
-                record_info("Reboot SUT", "Reboot " . get_required_var("SUT_IP") . " to match grub2 menu because last match failed");
-                ipmi_backend_utils::ipmitool("chassis power reset");
-                assert_screen('grub2', timeout => 300);
-            }
-            #wait sshd up after first stage upgrade
-            die "Can not connect to machine to perform offline upgrade second stage via ssh" unless (check_port_state(get_required_var('SUT_IP'), 22, 20));
+            #wait system boots up for second stage upgrade
+            die "Second stage offline upgrade can not start because ssh port is not open" unless (check_port_state(get_required_var('SUT_IP'), 22, 30, 10));
+            record_info("System boots up for second stage offline upgrade");
             save_screenshot;
             #switch to ssh console
             use_ssh_serial_console;
-            save_screenshot;
             #start second stage upgrade
-            enter_cmd("DISPLAY= yast.ssh");
-            save_screenshot;
+            enter_cmd("yast.ssh");
             #wait for second stage upgrade completion
             assert_screen('yast2-second-stage-done', 300);
+            record_info("Second stage offline upgrade finishes");
             #leave ssh console and switch to sol console
             switch_from_ssh_to_sol_console(reset_console_flag => 'on');
             save_screenshot;
diff --git a/tests/virt_autotest/reboot_and_wait_up_upgrade.pm b/tests/virt_autotest/reboot_and_wait_up_upgrade.pm
index 4d953d626b91..ea73f3308294 100644
--- a/tests/virt_autotest/reboot_and_wait_up_upgrade.pm
+++ b/tests/virt_autotest/reboot_and_wait_up_upgrade.pm
@@ -45,8 +45,8 @@ sub run {
         diag("Debug info for reboot_and_wait_up_upgrade: this is online upgrade");
     }
     else {
-        #OpenQA needs ssh way to trigger offline upgrade
-        script_run("sed -i s/sshd=1/ssh=1/g /boot/grub2/grub.cfg /boot/grub/menu.lst");
+        #offline upgrade will be performed automatically on ipmi sol console with sshd=1 in grub config, for example,
+        #linux path-to-linux autoupgrade=1 console=ttyS1,115200 console=tty vga=791 Y2DEBUG=1 xvideo=1024x768 ssh=1 sshpassword=xxxxx install=xxxxx
         diag("Debug info for reboot_and_wait_up_upgrade: this is offline upgrade. Need to clean up redundant disks using clean_up_red_disks.");
         clean_up_red_disks unless check_var('VIRT_PRJ2_HOST_UPGRADE', '');
     }