diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 5f1683da631..e84bbac87aa 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 .*.swp
 *.gem
+pkg/*.deb
+pkg/*.rpm
 *.class
 .rbx
 Gemfile.lock
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 2f3d7de5c7d..e2be3dfaf98 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ clean:
 	-$(QUIET)rm -rf .bundle
 	-$(QUIET)rm -rf build
 	-$(QUIET)rm -rf vendor
+	-$(QUIET)rm -f pkg/*.deb
 
 .PHONY: compile
 compile: compile-grammar compile-runner | build/ruby
diff --git a/pkg/build.sh b/pkg/build.sh
index 9f971616ff8..42b83d574ab 100755
--- a/pkg/build.sh
+++ b/pkg/build.sh
@@ -49,21 +49,26 @@ case $os@$release in
     install -m755 logstash.sysv.redhat $destdir/etc/init.d/logstash
     ;;
   ubuntu@*)
+    mkdir -p $destdir/etc/logstash/conf.d
     mkdir -p $destdir/etc/logrotate.d
     mkdir -p $destdir/etc/init
     mkdir -p $destdir/var/log/logstash
-    mkdir -p $destdir/etc/sysconfig
-    touch $destdir/etc/sysconfig/logstash
-    install -m644 logrotate.conf $destdir/etc/logrotate.d/
+    mkdir -p $destdir/etc/default
+    touch $destdir/etc/default/logstash
+    install -m644 logrotate.conf $destdir/etc/logrotate.d/logstash
+    install -m644 logstash.default $destdir/etc/default/logstash
     install -m755 logstash.upstart.ubuntu $destdir/etc/init/logstash.conf
     ;;
   debian@*)
+    mkdir -p $destdir/etc/logstash/conf.d
     mkdir -p $destdir/etc/logrotate.d
     mkdir -p $destdir/etc/init.d
     mkdir -p $destdir/var/lib/logstash
-    mkdir -p $destdir/var/run/logstash
     mkdir -p $destdir/var/log/logstash
-    install -m644 logrotate.conf $destdir/etc/logrotate.d/
+    mkdir -p $destdir/etc/default
+    touch $destdir/etc/default/logstash
+    install -m644 logrotate.conf $destdir/etc/logrotate.d/logstash
+    install -m644 logstash.default $destdir/etc/default/logstash
     install -m755 logstash.sysv.debian $destdir/etc/init.d/logstash
     ;;
   *) 
@@ -87,9 +92,10 @@ case $os in
     fpm -s dir -t deb -n logstash -v "$VERSION" \
       -a all --iteration 1-$os \
       -d "java6-runtime" \
-      --before-install ubuntu/before-install.sh \
-      --before-remove ubuntu/before-remove.sh \
-      --after-install ubuntu/after-install.sh \
+      --deb-user root --deb-group root \
+      --before-install $os/before-install.sh \
+      --before-remove $os/before-remove.sh \
+      --after-install $os/after-install.sh \
       -f -C $destdir .
     ;;
 esac
diff --git a/pkg/debian/after-install.sh b/pkg/debian/after-install.sh
index 10b9b67e555..5e0fc08f830 100644
--- a/pkg/debian/after-install.sh
+++ b/pkg/debian/after-install.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
-mkdir -p /home/logstash
-chown logstash:logstash /home/logstash
+chown -R logstash:logstash /opt/logstash
+chown logstash /var/log/logstash
+chown logstash:logstash /var/lib/logstash
diff --git a/pkg/debian/before-install.sh b/pkg/debian/before-install.sh
index 21393258d6b..6cdfae974e5 100644
--- a/pkg/debian/before-install.sh
+++ b/pkg/debian/before-install.sh
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ fi
 
 # create logstash user
 if ! getent passwd logstash >/dev/null; then
-  useradd -r -g logstash -d /home/logstash \
-    -s /sbin/nologin -c "logstash" logstash
+  useradd -M -r -g logstash -d /var/lib/logstash \
+    -s /sbin/nologin -c "LogStash Service User" logstash
 fi
+
diff --git a/pkg/debian/before-remove.sh b/pkg/debian/before-remove.sh
index 66187a914fc..8a92e482558 100644
--- a/pkg/debian/before-remove.sh
+++ b/pkg/debian/before-remove.sh
@@ -1,17 +1,13 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
 if [ $1 == "remove" ]; then
-  /etc/init.d/logstash > /dev/null 2>&1 || true
+  /etc/init.d/logstash stop >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
 
   if getent passwd logstash >/dev/null ; then
     userdel logstash
   fi
 
-  if getent group logstash > /dev/null ; then
+  if getent group logstash >/dev/null ; then
     groupdel logstash
   fi
-
-  if [ -d "/home/logstash" ] ; then
-    rm -rf /home/logstash
-  fi
 fi
diff --git a/pkg/logstash.default b/pkg/logstash.default
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c82970d67dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/logstash.default
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+# defaults for logstash
+
+# Start logstash on boot?
+START=no
+
+# pulled in from the init script; makes things easier.
+NAME=logstash
+
+# location of java
+JAVA=/usr/bin/java
+
+# arguments to pass to java
+LS_JAVA_OPTS="-Xmx256m -Djava.io.tmpdir=/var/lib/logstash/"
+
+PIDFILE=/var/run/logstash.pid
+
+# user id to be invoked as
+LS_USER=logstash
+
+# location of the logstas jar file
+LS_JAR=/opt/logstash/logstash.jar
+
+# logstash home location
+LS_HOME=/var/lib/logstash
+
+# logstash log directory
+LOG_DIR=/var/log/logstash
+
+# logstash log file
+LOG_FILE=$LOG_DIR/$NAME.log
+
+# logstash configuration directory
+CONF_DIR=/etc/logstash/conf.d
+
+# Open file limit
+OPEN_FILES=2048
+
+# Nice level
+NICE=19
+
+# Set LogStash options
+LS_OPTS="--log ${LOG_FILE}"
+
+# Set a home directory
+HOME=/var/lib/logstash
diff --git a/pkg/logstash.sysv.debian b/pkg/logstash.sysv.debian
index abcd09f6c44..7442e802868 100644
--- a/pkg/logstash.sysv.debian
+++ b/pkg/logstash.sysv.debian
@@ -56,7 +56,8 @@ LOG_FILE=$LOG_DIR/$NAME.log
 # Open File limit
 OPEN_FILES=2048
 
-
+# LogStash options
+LS_OPTS="--log ${LOG_DIR}/${NAME}.log"
 
 # Nice level
 NICE=19
@@ -71,7 +72,7 @@ fi
 # Define other required variables
 PID_FILE=/var/run/$NAME.pid
 DAEMON=$LS_JAR
-DAEMON_OPTS="agent -f ${CONF_DIR} --log ${LOG_FILE}"
+DAEMON_OPTS="agent -f ${CONF_DIR} ${LS_OPTS}"
 
 is_true() {
     if [ "x$1" = "xtrue" -o "x$1" = "xyes" -o "x$1" = "x1" ] ; then
diff --git a/pkg/logstash.upstart.ubuntu b/pkg/logstash.upstart.ubuntu
index 166c487a8ce..8866f0f01a7 100644
--- a/pkg/logstash.upstart.ubuntu
+++ b/pkg/logstash.upstart.ubuntu
@@ -15,6 +15,6 @@ setgid logstash
 
 # You need to chdir somewhere writable because logstash needs to unpack a few
 # temporary files on startup.
-chdir /home/logstash
+chdir /var/lib/logstash
 console log
-exec /usr/bin/java -jar logstash.jar agent -f /etc/logstash/agent.conf
+exec /usr/bin/java -jar /opt/logstash/logstash.jar agent -f /etc/logstash/conf.d
diff --git a/pkg/ubuntu/after-install.sh b/pkg/ubuntu/after-install.sh
index 10b9b67e555..5e0fc08f830 100644
--- a/pkg/ubuntu/after-install.sh
+++ b/pkg/ubuntu/after-install.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
-mkdir -p /home/logstash
-chown logstash:logstash /home/logstash
+chown -R logstash:logstash /opt/logstash
+chown logstash /var/log/logstash
+chown logstash:logstash /var/lib/logstash
diff --git a/pkg/ubuntu/before-install.sh b/pkg/ubuntu/before-install.sh
index 21393258d6b..dfbde2020a9 100644
--- a/pkg/ubuntu/before-install.sh
+++ b/pkg/ubuntu/before-install.sh
@@ -7,6 +7,6 @@ fi
 
 # create logstash user
 if ! getent passwd logstash >/dev/null; then
-  useradd -r -g logstash -d /home/logstash \
-    -s /sbin/nologin -c "logstash" logstash
+  useradd -M -r -g logstash -d /var/lib/logstash \
+    -s /sbin/nologin -c "LogStash Service User" logstash
 fi
diff --git a/pkg/ubuntu/before-remove.sh b/pkg/ubuntu/before-remove.sh
index 9c7602aa338..a5001585d9c 100644
--- a/pkg/ubuntu/before-remove.sh
+++ b/pkg/ubuntu/before-remove.sh
@@ -1,17 +1,13 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
 if [ $1 == "remove" ]; then
-  stop logstash > /dev/null 2>&1 || true
+  stop logstash >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
 
   if getent passwd logstash >/dev/null ; then
     userdel logstash
   fi
 
-  if getent group logstash > /dev/null ; then
+  if getent group logstash >/dev/null ; then
     groupdel logstash
   fi
-
-  if [ -d "/home/logstash" ] ; then
-    rm -rf /home/logstash
-  fi
 fi