Copy and paste the following list on a file, say “packages.txt”. To install all just do:

sudo apt-get install $(cat packages.txt)

accountsservice
acpid
adduser
ant
ant-optional
apache2-utils
apparmor
apport
apport-symptoms
apt
apt-transport-https
apt-utils
apt-xapian-index
aptitude
at
base-files
base-passwd
bash
bash-completion
bc
bind9-host
bsdmainutils
bsdutils
busybox-initramfs
busybox-static
byobu
bzip2
ca-certificates
ca-certificates-java
cloud-init
cloud-initramfs-growroot
cloud-initramfs-rescuevol
cloud-utils
command-not-found
command-not-found-data
console-setup
consolekit
coreutils
cpio
cpp
cpp-4.6
crda
cron
cryptsetup-bin
curl
dash
dbus
dbus-x11
dconf-gsettings-backend
dconf-service
debconf
debconf-i18n
debianutils
diffutils
dmidecode
dmsetup
dnsutils
dosfstools
dpkg
dstat
e2fslibs
e2fsprogs
ed
eject
emacs
emacs23
emacs23-bin-common
emacs23-common
emacsen-common
euca2ools
file
findutils
fontconfig
fontconfig-config
fonts-ubuntu-font-family-console
friendly-recovery
ftp
fuse
gamin
gcc-4.6-base
gconf-service
gconf-service-backend
gconf2
gconf2-common
geoip-database
gettext-base
gir1.2-glib-2.0
gir1.2-gudev-1.0
gnupg
gpgv
grep
groff-base
grub-common
grub-gfxpayload-lists
grub-legacy-ec2
grub-pc
grub-pc-bin
grub2-common
gvfs
gvfs-common
gvfs-daemons
gvfs-libs
gzip
hdparm
hicolor-icon-theme
hostname
htop
icedtea-6-jre-cacao
icedtea-6-jre-jamvm
icedtea-7-jre-cacao
icedtea-7-jre-jamvm
icedtea-netx
icedtea-netx-common
ifupdown
info
initramfs-tools
initramfs-tools-bin
initscripts
insserv
install-info
iproute
iptables
iputils-ping
iputils-tracepath
irqbalance
isc-dhcp-client
isc-dhcp-common
iso-codes
iw
java-common
kbd
keyboard-configuration
klibc-utils
krb5-locales
landscape-client
landscape-common
language-selector-common
laptop-detect
less
libaccountsservice0
libacl1
libapr1
libaprutil1
libapt-inst1.4
libapt-pkg4.12
libasn1-8-heimdal
libasound2
libasyncns0
libatasmart4
libatk-wrapper-java
libatk-wrapper-java-jni
libatk1.0-0
libatk1.0-data
libattr1
libavahi-client3
libavahi-common-data
libavahi-common3
libavahi-glib1
libbind9-80
libblkid1
libbonobo2-0
libbonobo2-common
libboost-iostreams1.46.1
libbsd0
libbz2-1.0
libc-bin
libc6
libcairo-gobject2
libcairo2
libcanberra0
libcap-ng0
libck-connector0
libclass-accessor-perl
libclass-isa-perl
libcomerr2
libcroco3
libcryptsetup4
libcups2
libcurl3
libcurl3-gnutls
libcwidget3
libdatrie1
libdb5.1
libdbus-1-3
libdbus-glib-1-2
libdconf0
libdevmapper-event1.02.1
libdevmapper1.02.1
libdns81
libdrm-intel1
libdrm-nouveau1a
libdrm-radeon1
libdrm2
libedit2
libelf1
libept1.4.12
libevent-2.0-5
libexpat1
libffi6
libflac8
libfontconfig1
libfontenc1
libfreetype6
libfribidi0
libfuse2
libgamin0
libgc1c2
libgcc1
libgconf-2-4
libgconf2-4
libgcrypt11
libgd2-noxpm
libgdbm3
libgdk-pixbuf2.0-0
libgdk-pixbuf2.0-common
libgdu0
libgeoip1
libgif4
libgirepository-1.0-1
libgl1-mesa-dri
libgl1-mesa-glx
libglapi-mesa
libglib2.0-0
libgmp10
libgnome-keyring-common
libgnome-keyring0
libgnome2-0
libgnome2-common
libgnomevfs2-0
libgnomevfs2-common
libgnutls26
libgpg-error0
libgpm2
libgssapi-krb5-2
libgssapi3-heimdal
libgtk-3-0
libgtk-3-bin
libgtk-3-common
libgtk2.0-0
libgtk2.0-bin
libgtk2.0-common
libgudev-1.0-0
libhcrypto4-heimdal
libheimbase1-heimdal
libheimntlm0-heimdal
libhx509-5-heimdal
libice-dev
libice6
libidl-common
libidl0
libidn11
libio-string-perl
libisc83
libisccc80
libisccfg82
libiw30
libjasper1
libjpeg-turbo8
libjpeg8
libjs-jquery
libjson0
libk5crypto3
libkeyutils1
libklibc
libkrb5-26-heimdal
libkrb5-3
libkrb5support0
liblcms2-2
libldap-2.4-2
libllvm3.0
liblocale-gettext-perl
liblockfile-bin
liblockfile1
libltdl7
liblvm2app2.2
liblwres80
liblzma5
libm17n-0
libmagic1
libmount1
libmpc2
libmpfr4
libmysqlclient18
libncurses5
libncursesw5
libnewt0.52
libnfnetlink0
libnih-dbus1
libnih1
libnl-3-200
libnl-genl-3-200
libnspr4
libnss3
libnss3-1d
libogg0
liborbit2
libotf0
libp11-kit0
libpam-ck-connector
libpam-modules
libpam-modules-bin
libpam-runtime
libpam0g
libpango1.0-0
libparse-debianchangelog-perl
libparted0debian1
libpcap0.8
libpci3
libpciaccess0
libpcre3
libpcsclite1
libpipeline1
libpixman-1-0
libplymouth2
libpng12-0
libpolkit-agent-1-0
libpolkit-backend-1-0
libpolkit-gobject-1-0
libpopt0
libpthread-stubs0
libpthread-stubs0-dev
libpulse0
libpython2.7
libreadline5
libreadline6
libroken18-heimdal
librsvg2-2
librtmp0
libsasl2-2
libsasl2-modules
libselinux1
libsgutils2-2
libsigc++-2.0-0c2a
libslang2
libsm-dev
libsm6
libsndfile1
libsqlite3-0
libss2
libssl1.0.0
libstdc++6
libsub-name-perl
libswitch-perl
libtasn1-3
libtdb1
libterm-readkey-perl
libterm-readline-perl-perl
libtext-charwidth-perl
libtext-iconv-perl
libtext-wrapi18n-perl
libthai-data
libthai0
libtiff4
libtimedate-perl
libtinfo5
libtorrent14
libudev0
libusb-0.1-4
libusb-1.0-0
libuuid1
libvorbis0a
libvorbisenc2
libvorbisfile3
libwind0-heimdal
libwrap0
libx11-6
libx11-data
libx11-dev
libx11-doc
libx11-xcb1
libxapian22
libxau-dev
libxau6
libxaw7
libxcb-glx0
libxcb-render0
libxcb-shape0
libxcb-shm0
libxcb1
libxcb1-dev
libxcomposite1
libxcursor1
libxdamage1
libxdmcp-dev
libxdmcp6
libxerces2-java
libxext6
libxfixes3
libxft2
libxi6
libxinerama1
libxml-commons-external-java
libxml-commons-resolver1.1-java
libxml2
libxmlrpc-core-c3
libxmu6
libxmuu1
libxpm4
libxrandr2
libxrender1
libxt-dev
libxt6
libxtst6
libxv1
libxxf86dga1
libxxf86vm1
libyaml-0-2
lighttpd
linux-firmware
linux-image-3.2.0-25-virtual
linux-image-3.2.0-26-virtual
linux-image-3.2.0-27-virtual
linux-image-virtual
linux-virtual
locales
lockfile-progs
login
logrotate
lsb-base
lsb-release
lshw
lsof
ltrace
m17n-contrib
m17n-db
makedev
man-db
manpages
mawk
memcached
memtest86+
mercurial
mercurial-common
mime-support
mlocate
module-init-tools
mount
mountall
mtools
mtr-tiny
multiarch-support
mysql-common
nano
ncurses-base
ncurses-bin
net-tools
netbase
netcat-openbsd
nethogs
ntfs-3g
ntpdate
openjdk-6-jre
openjdk-6-jre-headless
openjdk-6-jre-lib
openjdk-7-jdk
openjdk-7-jre
openjdk-7-jre-headless
openjdk-7-jre-lib
openssh-client
openssh-server
openssl
os-prober
parted
passwd
patch
pciutils
perl
perl-base
perl-modules
php5
php5-cgi
php5-cli
php5-common
php5-mysql
plymouth
plymouth-theme-ubuntu-text
policykit-1
policykit-1-gnome
popularity-contest
powermgmt-base
ppp
pppconfig
pppoeconf
procps
psmisc
python
python-apport
python-apt
python-apt-common
python-boto
python-chardet
python-cheetah
python-configobj
python-crypto
python-dbus
python-dbus-dev
python-debian
python-gdbm
python-gi
python-gnupginterface
python-httplib2
python-keyring
python-launchpadlib
python-lazr.restfulclient
python-lazr.uri
python-m2crypto
python-minimal
python-newt
python-oauth
python-openssl
python-pam
python-paramiko
python-pkg-resources
python-problem-report
python-pycurl
python-serial
python-simplejson
python-software-properties
python-twisted-bin
python-twisted-core
python-twisted-names
python-twisted-web
python-wadllib
python-xapian
python-yaml
python-zope.interface
python2.7
python2.7-minimal
readline-common
resolvconf
rsync
rsyslog
rtorrent
screen
sed
sensible-utils
sgml-base
shared-mime-info
sound-theme-freedesktop
spawn-fcgi
ssh-import-id
strace
sudo
sysv-rc
sysvinit-utils
tar
tasksel
tasksel-data
tcpd
tcpdump
telnet
time
tmux
ttf-dejavu-core
ttf-dejavu-extra
tzdata
tzdata-java
ubuntu-keyring
ubuntu-minimal
ubuntu-standard
ucf
udev
udisks
ufw
unattended-upgrades
update-manager-core
update-notifier-common
upstart
ureadahead
usbutils
util-linux
uuid-runtime
vim
vim-common
vim-runtime
vim-tiny
w3m
wget
whiptail
whoopsie
wireless-regdb
wireless-tools
wpasupplicant
x11-common
x11-utils
x11proto-core-dev
x11proto-input-dev
x11proto-kb-dev
xauth
xfsprogs
xkb-data
xml-core
xorg-sgml-doctools
xtrans-dev
xz-lzma
xz-utils
zlib1g

These was the list of packages I ended up installing on a new web server machine until I stopped needing to put more things in it. I’ll come back and update this list in a few months.

I’ve put this list together because my AWS EC2 image instantiation didn’t work, so I did the old school solution, just install the same packages on a new machine and configure the computer, oh well.