Sun Glassfish server can be run in embeded mode, very useful for automated integration tests. Here’s how: Maven Dependencies: <dependency> <groupId>org.glassfish.distributions</groupId> <artifactId>web-all</artifactId> <version>10.0-build-20080430</version> <scope>test</scope> </dependency> <dependency> <groupId>org.glassfish.embedded</groupId> <artifactId>gf-embedded-api</artifactId> <version>1.0-alpha-4</version> <scope>test</scope> </dependency> If you are not using maven then add the above libs to you classpath. Getting the server started in simple final URI APP_URI= UriBuilder.fromUri(“http://localhost/”).port(8888).path(“myapp”).build(); [...]

The layout of a portlet is handled by a set of JSP in the portal-core web-app which is part of the jboss-portal.sar. In the web-inf direcotry have a look at portal-layouts.xml to see how various layouts are configured. The following is a snippet (self explainatory): <layouts> <layout> <name>rbs-1column</name> <uri>/layouts/mylayout/index.jsp</uri> <uri state=”maximized”>/layouts/mylayout/maximized.jsp</uri> <regions> <region name=”regionBody”/> </regions> [...]