My need is to store the configuration of a linux machine in a file and be able to replicate the machine (as simply as possible) using the file. The file should be as small as possible.
I think that the following should be possible: create a minimal Linux installation CD which installs the systems from internet and applies some bash script to the resulting system. In principle the ISO of the CD could be very small and could by installed on a real machine (by burning the CD) or on a virtual machine (by means of ISO file).
I wonder if this approach has been implemented... I was not able to figure out the keywords for a google search.
add: or even a simpler two-step solution: a minimal linux distribution which has the ability to retrieve packages and software from internet following a configuration script (which could be copied on the system after installation). This would result in even smaller files since the ISO image would be always the same and is not contained in the file describing the system.
This kind of linux has been around for long time. a Command Line only (with no GUI) live cd which you would download and boot from it. Usually boot to RAM. these distros come with their own package manager software. these package managers are combination of bash and a programming language mostly Perl. For example Gentoo; which its livecd is about 100mb i think or maybe less. there are other distros as well