When it is a question of setting up things on remote machine, I managed always to get job done with a python script I wrote ( ssh + expect ). But I found these 2 shell scripts from Shannon -jj Behrens very useful.
The first installs your ssh-key on remote server:
# Install my ssh key on a remote system.

ssh-installkey() {

        [ -n "$1" ] || {

                echo "usage: ssh-installkey username@host" >&2

                return 1

        }

        ssh $1 "mkdir -p -m 700 .ssh"

        ssh $1 "cat >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys2" < ~/.ssh/id_dsa.pub

}

The second copies your local settings to the remote machine. Adapt it to your need. For me the most important settings are those for vi (the .vimrc file). 
# Install some basic settings on the remote system for things like zsh, vim,

# and screen.  Then, try to change shells.  

ssh-installsettings() {

        [ -n "$1" ] || {

                echo "usage: ssh-installsettings username@host" >&2

                return 1

        }

        scp -r \

            .zlogin .zshenv .zshrc \

            .vim .vimrc \

            .screenrc \

            $1:

        echo "Attempting to set login shell." >&2

        ssh $1 "chsh -s /usr/bin/zsh"

}