[tlrobinson]

If you don't want to use Docker in production you could use something like Packer to build Docker base images (http://www.packer.io/docs/builders/docker.html) and VM images (AMIs, OpenStack, whatever) using the same templates.

There would still be some differences, like if the kernel version on your local machine didn't match.

Note: I haven't tried this. Maybe it's a bad idea.