OK. I need to be able to quickly setup extra nodes in my clusters so basically I copy a production container that is setup how I need for the cluster in question and then use the script below to create a template that I can use to add new cluster nodes on the fly.

Be advised that this is a work in progress and the Debian portion is the only part that works at the moment. Hope to have CentOS/RHEL finished soon. I finally got a few minutes free to do up the basic CentOS support. Don't forget the warning below though.

<fc #FF0000>WARNING!!!!! DO NOT USE THIS SCRIPT ON A PRODUCTION CONTAINER!!!!!!!!! IT WILL CAUSE DAMAGE!!!!!</fc>

#!/bin/bash

#set -x

VERSION='0.2b'

usage()
{
	cat << EOF
Usage: $0 options

This script creates an OpenVZ Container Template from an existing container.

Options:
	-h	Show this message
	-t	container Type can be debian or centos (default: debian)
	-i	container ID
	-n	Name of new template
	-v	Verbose
	-V	Show version
EOF
}

CTTYPE=
CTID=
TEMPLATE=
VERBOSE=
VZCTL=`which vzctl`
VZLIST=`which vzlist`

while getopts "ht:i:n:vV" OPTION
do
	case $OPTION in
		h)
			usage
			exit 0
			;;
		t)
			CTTYPE=$OPTARG
			;;
		i)
			CTID=$OPTARG
			;;
		n)
			TEMPLATE=$OPTARG
			;;
		v)
			VERBOSE=1
			;;
		V)
			echo "$0 Version: $VERSION"
			exit 0
			;;
	esac
done

if [[ -z $CTTYPE ]]
then
	CTTYPE="debian"
fi

if [[ -z $CTID ]] || [[ -z $TEMPLATE ]]
then
	usage
	exit 1
fi

CTSTATUS=`$VZLIST $CTID -o status -H`
CTROOT=`$VZLIST $CTID -o private -H`
CTIP=`$VZLIST $CTID -o ip -H`

if [[ $CTIP = "-" ]]
then
	echo "Be sure the container has venet network access!!"
	echo "Exiting"
	exit 1
fi

if [[ $CTSTATUS != "running" ]]
then
	echo "Be sure container is running!!"
	echo "Exiting!"
	exit 1
fi

if [ $CTTYPE = "debian" ]; then

	echo "Updating container $CTID"
	$VZCTL exec $CTID 'apt-get update'
	echo "Installing SSH server"
	$VZCTL exec $CTID 'apt-get install openssh-server'
	echo "Cleaning container"
	$VZCTL exec $CTID 'apt-get --purge clean'
	$VZCTL exec $CTID 'rm -f /etc/hostname'
	$VZCTL exec $CTID '> /etc/resolve.conf'
	$VZCTL exec $CTID 'rm -f /etc/ssh/ssh_host_*'
	echo "Setting up SSH Keygen startup script"
	cat > /tmp/ssh_gen_host_keys <<"endscript"
#!/bin/sh
### BEGIN INIT INFO
# Provides:          Generates new ssh host keys on first boot
# Required-Start:    $remote_fs $syslog
# Required-Stop:     $remote_fs $syslog
# Default-Start:     2 3 4 5
# Default-Stop:
# Short-Description: Generates new ssh host keys on first boot
# Description:       Generates new ssh host keys on first boot
### END INIT INFO
ssh-keygen -f /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key -t rsa -N ""
ssh-keygen -f /etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key -t dsa -N ""
/etc/init.d/ssh restart
insserv -r /etc/init.d/ssh_gen_host_keys
rm -f \$0
endscript

	cp -f /tmp/ssh_gen_host_keys $CTROOT/etc/init.d
	rm -f /tmp/ssh_gen_host_keys
	$VZCTL exec $CTID 'chmod a+x /etc/init.d/ssh_gen_host_keys'
	$VZCTL exec $CTID 'insserv /etc/init.d/ssh_gen_host_keys'
	echo "Deleting IP settings"
	$VZCTL set $CTID --ipdel all --save

	cat > /tmp/excludes <<'endexcludes'
.bash_history
lost+found
/dev/*
/mnt/*
/tmp/*
/proc/*
/sys/*
/usr/src/*
/etc/ssh/ssh_host*
endexcludes

	echo "Stopping container"
	$VZCTL stop $CTID
	echo "Creating template"
	cd $CTROOT
	tar --numeric-owner -czvf /var/lib/vz/template/cache/$TEMPLATE.tar.gz -X /tmp/excludes .

elif [ $CTTYPE = "centos" ]; then

	echo "Updating container $CTID"
	$VZCTL exec $CTID 'yum check-update'
	echo "Installing SSH server"
	$VZCTL exec $CTID 'yum install openssh-server'
	echo "Cleaning container"
	$VZCTL exec $CTID 'yum clean'
	$VZCTL exec $CTID 'mkdir /var/lock/rpm'
	$VZCTL exec $CTID 'sed -i "s/root:\(.*\)\(:.*:.*:.*:.*:.*:.*:\)$/root:!!\2/" /etc/shadow'
	$VZCTL exec $CTID 'sed -i "/none\t\/dev\/shm\ttmpfs\tdefaults\t\t0\t0/d" /etc/fstab'
	$VZCTL exec $CTID '> /etc/resolve.conf'
	$VZCTL exec $CTID '> /etc/sysconfig/network'
	$VZCTL exec $CTID 'rm -f /etc/ssh/ssh_host_*'
	echo "Setting up SSH Keygen startup script"
	cat > /tmp/ssh_gen_host_keys <<'endscript'
#!/bin/sh
### BEGIN INIT INFO
# Provides:          Generates new ssh host keys on first boot
# Required-Start:    $remote_fs $syslog
# Required-Stop:     $remote_fs $syslog
# Default-Start:     2 3 4 5
# Default-Stop:
# Short-Description: Generates new ssh host keys on first boot
# Description:       Generates new ssh host keys on first boot
### END INIT INFO
ssh-keygen -f /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key -t rsa -N ""
ssh-keygen -f /etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key -t dsa -N ""
/etc/init.d/sshd restart
insserv -r /etc/init.d/ssh_gen_host_keys
rm -f \$0
endscript

	cp -f /tmp/ssh_gen_host_keys $CTROOT/etc/init.d
	rm -f /tmp/ssh_gen_host_keys
	$VZCTL exec $CTID 'chmod a+x /etc/init.d/ssh_gen_host_keys'
	$VZCTL exec $CTID 'chkconfig --add ssh_gen_host_keys'
	echo "Deleting IP settings"
	$VZCTL set $CTID --ipdel all --save

	cat > /tmp/excludes <<'endexcludes'
.bash_history
lost+found
/dev/*
/mnt/*
/tmp/*
/proc/*
/sys/*
/usr/src/*
/etc/ssh/ssh_host*
endexcludes

	echo "Stopping container"
	$VZCTL stop $CTID
	echo "Creating template"
	cd $CTROOT
	tar --numeric-owner -czvf /var/lib/vz/template/cache/$TEMPLATE.tar.gz -X /tmp/excludes .
fi