Build LXC, then use it to create a container, and use that container to build Erlang. All starting from a clean Ubuntu-12.04.3 server install.

Build-LXC-and-erlang-on-Ubuntu

### Prepare the host system
sudo sh -c "cat - >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ddebs.list" << EOF
deb http://ddebs.ubuntu.com precise main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://ddebs.ubuntu.com precise-updates main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://ddebs.ubuntu.com precise-security main restricted universe multiverse
EOF
sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys ECDCAD72428D7C01
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade -y
sudo apt-get install -y linux-image-3.8.0-34-generic
sudo reboot

### Optionally, install the kernel debugging symbols
#wget http://ddebs.ubuntu.com/pool/main/l/linux-lts-raring/linux-image-3.8.0-34-generic-dbgsym_3.8.0-34.49~precise1_amd64.ddeb
## wait about 2hrs for the 85kB/s download to complete, grumble
#sudo dpkg -i linux-image-3.8.0-34-generic-dbgsym_3.8.0-34.49~precise1_amd64.ddeb

### Install FPM, which we'll later use to package the build
sudo apt-get install -y rubygems
sudo gem install fpm

### Build LXC
# Build-deps
sudo apt-get install -y automake autoconf gcc make python3-dev pkg-config libcap-dev
# Run-deps
sudo apt-get install python3 libcap2 libpython3.2 debootstrap bridge-utils cgroup-bin
wget https://github.com/lxc/lxc/archive/lxc-1.0.0.beta1.tar.gz
tar -zxf lxc-1.0.0.beta1.tar.gz
cd lxc-lxc-1.0.0.beta1
./autogen.sh
./configure --prefix=/opt/lxc-1.0.0.beta1 --enable-rpath
make
sudo make install
### Fixup the system linker path
sudo sh -c "echo '/opt/lxc-1.0.0.beta1/lib' > /etc/ld.so.conf.d/lxc-1.0.0.beta1.conf"
OTHERS="/etc/ld.so.conf.d/lxc-1.0.0.beta1.conf"
### Fixup the python libraries required by several of the executables
for P in /opt/lxc-1.0.0.beta1/lib/python3/dist-packages/*; do
        SYM="/usr/local/lib/python3.2/dist-packages/$(basename ${P})"
        sudo ln -s ${P} ${SYM}
        # Save a reference; we want to make these symlinks part of the package
        OTHERS="$OTHERS $SYM"
done
### Force python to byte-compile the libs so we can capture the artifacts
sudo /opt/lxc-1.0.0.beta1/bin/lxc-start-ephemeral -h >/dev/null 2>&1

### Package LXC
cd ..
cat - > after-install << EOF
#!/bin/sh
/sbin/ldconfig
EOF
cat - > after-remove << EOF
#!/bin/sh
/sbin/ldconfig
EOF
fpm -s dir -t deb -n "lxc" -v "1.0.0.beta1" -d "python3 >= 3.2" -d "libcap2" -d "libpython3.2" -d "debootstrap" -d "bridge-utils" -d "cgroup-bin" --after-install ./after-install --after-remove ./after-remove --directories /opt/lxc-1.0.0.beta1 /opt/lxc-1.0.0.beta1 $OTHERS

## Purge the temporary build artifacts to make room for the package to install
sudo rm -rf /opt/lxc-1.0.0.beta1 $OTHERS
rm after-install after-remove

### (optional) Purge the build-deps for LXC
sudo apt-get remove -y --purge automake autoconf gcc make python3-dev libcap-dev
sudo apt-get autoremove -y --purge

### Install LXC
sudo dpkg -i lxc_1.0.0.beta1_amd64.deb

### Fixup system paths so everyone can find the installed package
sudo sh -c "cat - >> /etc/bash.bashrc" << "EOF"

PATH=$PATH:/opt/lxc-1.0.0.beta1/bin
EOF
# Fixup sudo to actually *use* those paths, because Ubuntu's sudo config is *such* a PITA
cat - >> ~/.bashrc << "EOF"
alias sudo='sudo env PATH=$PATH'
EOF

### Configure the bridge for container networking (they default to "lxcbr0")
sudo sh -c "cat - >> /etc/network/interfaces" << EOF

auto lxcbr0
iface lxcbr0 inet dhcp
        bridge_ports eth1
        bridge_fd 0
        bridge_maxwait 0
EOF
sudo ifup lxcbr0

### Ensure that the cgconfig is running
# needed to ensure that the cgroups below /sys/fs/cgroup are in-place, which is a pre-req for starting a container
sudo start cgconfig

### Create a baseline Ubuntu container, which we will snapshot/clone
# this takes a while because it's doing a full debootstrap from the internet
sudo lxc-create -n ubuntu-base -t ubuntu -B lvm --vgname vg0 --fssize 1024M

### Create a clone, which we will use to build Erlang
# this goes *very* fast, since it's using an LVM snapshot for the clone
sudo lxc-clone -o ubuntu-base -n erlang-build -s

sudo lxc-start -d -n erlang-build
sudo lxc-wait -n erlang-build -s RUNNING
sudo lxc-attach -n erlang-build << EOF
# Build deps
apt-get install -y perl-modules libncurses5-dev libssl-dev systemtap systemtap-sdt-dev
# (OPTIONAL) Docbuild deps
apt-get install -y xsltproc fop
# Tools to test our build
apt-get install -y linux-headers-$(uname -r) man-db systemtap-runtime
# Tools for fetching/building packages
apt-get install -y wget rubygems
HOME=/tmp gem install fpm
### Build Erlang/OTP
cd /tmp
wget http://www.erlang.org/download/otp_src_R16B03.tar.gz
tar -zxf otp_src_R16B03.tar.gz
cd otp_src_R16B03
./configure --prefix=/opt/R16B03 --with-dynamic-trace=systemtap
make
make install
### (OPTIONAL) Build the docs for Erlang/OTP (these can also be downloaded, pre-formatted, in a tarball)
# this actually takes quite a while to complete
#make docs
#make install-docs
### Test that the Erlang install appears to work
# dyntrace:available() should return 'true'
/opt/R16B03/bin/erl << EOFINNER
dyntrace:available().
EOFINNER

fpm -s dir -t deb -n "erlang" -v "16.03" -d 'libssl1.0.0' -d 'libncurses5' --directories /opt/R16B03 /opt/R16B03
EOF

sudo lxc-attach -n erlang-build -- cat /tmp/erlang_16.03_amd64.deb > erlang_16.03_amd64.deb
sudo lxc-stop -n erlang-build