A method and system is provided for managing virtual machine instances (VMs) and other computing and network infrastructure within a data center. A user designates a computing device or resource (whether physical or virtual) as a master automation object (e.g., a virtual machine instance may be designated as a virtual template for command replication). The user then establishes an association between the master object and a set of physical and/or virtual computing resources that should replicate a set of designated commands sent to the master object. An automation service then intercepts/observes commands sent to the master object and sends the intercepted/observed commands to each computing device linked to the master object.