Did not know of Chef. Maybe I am missing something, but what is this server that needs those services running? Is it a virtualized server? Is it something internal to a domain and is a physical box? Most distributions will allow you to use existing packages that put together those services on the distribution of choice, and setup time is minimal. And if you are using a VM (virtualized server) that somebody else provides, they most certainly have instructions on how to do it. I used Slicehost (RackSpace) over 8 years ago and their instructions were spot-on. (This email is coming to you from that VM.)