I personally use a good old Makefile to create debs. I'm not sure using Fabric for that gives much of an edge. I also handle base system configuration through a

I personally use a good old Makefile to create debs. I'm not sure using Fabric for that gives much of an edge. I also handle base system configuration through a hierarchy of debs that perform tasks ranging from user configuration and database setup to application setup. I've used that sort of setup in various configurations and it's solid. After all, that's what our favorite distos use (whether it's deb-based or not is irrelevant, concepts are similar). If and when configuration needs to be "shared" or "propagated" between machines, I store in a store of some kind (RDBS, KV).