I'm looking for a server provisioning tool, hopefully in Ruby, that fits in the gap between tools like Kickstart and tools like Chef.
I need something that can connect over SSH and set up users, keys, install tools, etc. Something that can go from an empty OS to a working Chef instance, at least.
I've been experimenting with mass.pl (http://lerp.com/~sic/mass/) but it doesn't look like it's actively maintained, and it looks like a big learning investment, so I want to know if there's other stuff out there before I spend a lot of time with it.