I have a set of tools I can use to target multiple output formats. The base of it installs the OS and configures the system how ever you want -- all onto a disk

I have a set of tools I can use to target multiple output formats. The base of it installs the OS and configures the system how ever you want -- all onto a disk image. It can then be packaged into AMI or vmdk. Those are the only two I've had to target so far, but I suspect most vm systems ultimately use raw disk images so I suspect I can port my system to whatever format I need. Using things like kickstart and chef/puppet has been brutal for me.. Spinning up a bunch of instances and hoping the installs go smoothly. You don't know for 20 minutes +. AMI's are so much more reliable. Of course, the cost is flexibility -- most changes require new images.