Preparation

Install a minimal CentOS system. Use two partitions, one for /boot, one for / .

Drop it into single user mode using:

# init 1

Now, mount --bind the root / and archive it up, send it via nc(5) to a remote host.

# cd /mnt

# mkdir tmpmnt

# mount --bind / tmpmnt

# cd tmpmnt

# tar -zc . | nc 192.168.0.1 1234

On the remote host use...

# nc -l -p 1234 > centos.tar.gz

The Fun Stuff

Copy centos.tar.gz over to the linux-vserver host. Create the virtual server...

# export vservername=abcd

# vserver $vservername build -m template --context 1000 --hostname $vservername --interface eth0:192.168.0.1/24 -- -t /root/centos.tar.gz --debug

# echo "~single_ip" > /etc/vservers/$vservername/nflags

Fixing up the last bits

# echo plain > /etc/vservers/$vservername/apps/init/style

# rm -f /vservers/$vservername/etc/init/tty.conf

# sed -i 's/^\(console output\)$/#\1/1' /vservers/$vservername/etc/init/*