diff --git a/Dockerfile.dapper b/Dockerfile.dapper
index 97bfee05..6709100e 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.dapper
+++ b/Dockerfile.dapper
@@ -72,6 +72,8 @@ ARG OS_RELEASES_YML=https://releases.rancher.com/os
 ARG OS_SERVICES_REPO=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/${OS_REPO}/os-services
 ARG IMAGE_NAME=${OS_REPO}/os
 
+ARG OS_CONSOLE=default
+
 ARG OS_BASE_URL_amd64=https://github.com/rancher/os-base/releases/download/v2018.02.7-3/os-base_amd64.tar.xz
 ARG OS_BASE_URL_arm64=https://github.com/rancher/os-base/releases/download/v2018.02.7-3/os-base_arm64.tar.xz
 
@@ -116,6 +118,7 @@ ENV BUILD_DOCKER_URL=BUILD_DOCKER_URL_${ARCH} \
     OS_RELEASES_YML=${OS_RELEASES_YML} \
     OS_REPO=${OS_REPO} \
     OS_SERVICES_REPO=${OS_SERVICES_REPO} \
+    OS_CONSOLE=${OS_CONSOLE} \
     REPO_VERSION=master \
     SELINUX_POLICY_URL=${SELINUX_POLICY_URL} \
     SYSTEM_DOCKER_URL=SYSTEM_DOCKER_URL_${ARCH} \
diff --git a/os-config.tpl.yml b/os-config.tpl.yml
index e06ebb5a..5a376211 100644
--- a/os-config.tpl.yml
+++ b/os-config.tpl.yml
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ rancher:
     group: root
     host: ["unix:///var/run/system-docker.sock"]
     userland_proxy: false
-  console: default
+  console: {{.OS_CONSOLE}}
   cloud_init:
     datasources:
     - configdrive:/media/config-2
diff --git a/scripts/layout-initrd b/scripts/layout-initrd
index 2bd02d0a..67d75307 100755
--- a/scripts/layout-initrd
+++ b/scripts/layout-initrd
@@ -60,6 +60,23 @@ for file in $(ls .make-*); do
             ;;
     esac
 done
+case ${OS_CONSOLE} in
+    "alpine")
+        cache_services "a/alpine.yml"
+        ;;
+    "centos")
+        cache_services "c/centos.yml"
+        ;;
+    "debian")
+        cache_services "d/debian.yml"
+        ;;
+    "fedora")
+        cache_services "f/fedora.yml"
+        ;;
+    "ubuntu")
+        cache_services "u/ubuntu.yml"
+        ;;
+esac
 
 # TODO: usr/lib dir is overwritten by the kernel modules and firmware
 ln -s ${INITRD_DIR}/usr/share/ros/os-release ${INITRD_DIR}/usr/lib/