What application server should I use for my campus uPortal instance?

uPortal can be made to run in conjunction with any application server that complies with the Java Servlet 2.2 and Java Server Pages 1.1 specifications.

The latest releases of uPortal work best out of the box in application servers supporting Java Servlet 2.4 and Java Server Pages 2.0. Hanging out on painfully old versions of the specifications is not advised. uPortal will work best under JDK 1.5 and Tomcat 5.5 (as compared with prior versions of Java and Tomcat, no comment is intended here on whether to choose Tomcat or an entirely different server).

There are members of JA-SIG currently operating uPortal instances with BEA's WebLogic, IBM's Websphere, and Caucho's Resin, among others. Please don't think that uPortal is somehow dependent upon Tomcat, the open-source JSP and servlet container from the Apache Jakarta project that ships with uPortal quickstart distributions. It is true that operating uPortal with Tomcat is likely to be best understood and best supported by the uPortal developer community. You can use any JSP /Servlet compliant container or application server, and if you want commercial quality tech support, formal training or documentation, then a commercial application server is something to consider.