Is there a easy way to configure users and settings across multiple operating systems?

I install a lot of operating systems (both L开发者_如何学Cinux and Windows) on VMs. After the install, I would like to setup some common users and groups on the machine. These users and settings would be common across all the machines. Is there a tool that lets me do this on Linux and Windows? It need not be the same tool on both the platforms.

I think that you want is a Configuration Managment Tool like Puppet or Chef (for example).

I can't suggest you the ideal software for your needs because I don't have a lot of details.

I think that the best way to approach the problem is to read the wikipedia article about "Comparison of open source configuration management software".

The first table refers to the 'Basic properties' and the second table to the 'Platform support' (I think that the Linux and Windows column is interesting for you).

A 'Short description' for each tool is available. I think it's interesting to read this section if you want to get an idea of the tools more or less easily affordable.