Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) 2.0 components for Federation Server and Federation Server Proxy are installed using AdfsSetup.exe from the Microsoft Download site. Various items are validated or installed during execution of AdfsSetup.exe, and a debug log might help you troubleshoot problems encountered during installation.

To generate a debug-level log, run AdfsSetup.exe from the command line as follows:

AdfsSetup.exe /LogFile {path}

Example: AdfsSetup.exe /LogFile C:\AdfsSetup.log

Sample log file output from AdfsSetup.exe run on Windows Server 2008 x86:

Microsoft.IdentityServer.Setup Information: 3556 :   1 [ 5876904572 ]: DebugLog initialized
Microsoft.IdentityServer.Setup Information: 3556 :   1 [ 5897137757 ]: Installing with OcSetup cmdline : 'MicrosoftWindowsPowerShell /quiet /norestart'
Microsoft.IdentityServer.Setup Information: 3556 :   1 [ 6227442751 ]: OcSetup for 'MicrosoftWindowsPowerShell /quiet /norestart' returned 0.
Microsoft.IdentityServer.Setup Information: 3556 :   1 [ 6227462889 ]: Installing with OcSetup cmdline : 'IIS-ClientCertificateMappingAuthentication /quiet /norestart'
Microsoft.IdentityServer.Setup Information: 3556 :   1 [ 6534084591 ]: OcSetup for 'IIS-ClientCertificateMappingAuthentication /quiet /norestart' returned 0.
Microsoft.IdentityServer.Setup Information: 3556 :   6 [ 6534094506 ]: Installing with WUSA : 'c:\b90cc8f35d4450606951\KB975955.msu'
Microsoft.IdentityServer.Setup Information: 3556 :   6 [ 6792013922 ]: Installing MSU 'c:\b90cc8f35d4450606951\KB975955.msu' returned 0
Microsoft.IdentityServer.Setup Information: 3556 :   6 [ 6792015581 ]: Installing with WUSA : 'c:\b90cc8f35d4450606951\KB981205.msu'
Microsoft.IdentityServer.Setup Information: 3556 :   6 [ 6953859786 ]: Installing MSU 'c:\b90cc8f35d4450606951\KB981205.msu' returned 0
Microsoft.IdentityServer.Setup Information: 3556 :   6 [ 6953861552 ]: Installing with WUSA : 'c:\b90cc8f35d4450606951\KB981202.msu'
Microsoft.IdentityServer.Setup Information: 3556 :   6 [ 7068545981 ]: Installing MSU 'c:\b90cc8f35d4450606951\KB981202.msu' returned 0
Microsoft.IdentityServer.Setup Information: 3556 :   6 [ 7068548778 ]: Installing with WUSA : 'c:\b90cc8f35d4450606951\KB981201.msu'
Microsoft.IdentityServer.Setup Information: 3556 :   6 [ 7201393625 ]: Installing MSU 'c:\b90cc8f35d4450606951\KB981201.msu' returned 0
Microsoft.IdentityServer.Setup Information: 3556 :   6 [ 7201396597 ]: Installing with WUSA : 'c:\b90cc8f35d4450606951\KB968389.msu'
Microsoft.IdentityServer.Setup Information: 3556 :   6 [ 7231864164 ]: Installing MSU 'c:\b90cc8f35d4450606951\KB968389.msu' returned 1
Microsoft.IdentityServer.Setup Information: 3556 :   6 [ 7231866663 ]: Installing with WUSA : 'c:\b90cc8f35d4450606951\KB970430.msu'
Microsoft.IdentityServer.Setup Information: 3556 :   6 [ 7283201356 ]: Installing MSU 'c:\b90cc8f35d4450606951\KB970430.msu' returned 1
Microsoft.IdentityServer.Setup Information: 3556 :   6 [ 7283203057 ]: Installing with WUSA : 'c:\b90cc8f35d4450606951\KB973917.msu'
Microsoft.IdentityServer.Setup Information: 3556 :   6 [ 7313714548 ]: Installing MSU 'c:\b90cc8f35d4450606951\KB973917.msu' returned 1
Microsoft.IdentityServer.Setup Information: 3556 :   6 [ 7313717902 ]: Installing with WUSA : 'c:\b90cc8f35d4450606951\wif.msu'
Microsoft.IdentityServer.Setup Information: 3556 :   6 [ 7439376468 ]: Installing MSU 'c:\b90cc8f35d4450606951\wif.msu' returned 0
Microsoft.IdentityServer.Setup Information: 3556 :   6 [ 7439379827 ]: Installing with WUSA : 'c:\b90cc8f35d4450606951\adfs-sts.msu'
Microsoft.IdentityServer.Setup Information: 3556 :   6 [ 7640176724 ]: Installing MSU 'c:\b90cc8f35d4450606951\adfs-sts.msu' returned 0
Microsoft.IdentityServer.Setup Information: 3556 :   6 [ 7640180904 ]: Initiating WU scan
Microsoft.IdentityServer.Setup Error: 3556 :   6 [ 7641169274 ]: System.FormatException: Index (zero based) must be greater than or equal to zero and less than the size of the argument list.
   at System.Text.StringBuilder.AppendFormat(IFormatProvider provider, String format, Object[] args)
   at Microsoft.IdentityServer.Setup.Diagnostics.TraceLog.WriteLine(TraceEventType eventType, String msg, Object[] args)

Additional AdfsSetup.exe parameters:

---------------------------
Active Directory Federation Services 2.0 Setup Wizard
---------------------------
adfssetup </? | /help>

adfssetup [/logfile <destination>] [/quiet] [/proxy] [/norestart]

/?, /help - Displays this help message.

/logfile - Enables logging of the setup process and creates a log file in the destination folder.

/quiet - Installs AD FS 2.0 quietly without prompts for user input. This option will install only the components necessary for this computer to run in the federation server role unless this parameter is used simultaneously with the /proxy parameter. If necessary, the following prerequisite software will be installed if it has not already been installed: Windows PowerShell, the Web Server (IIS) server role, and Windows Identity Foundation.

/proxy - Installs only the components of the AD FS 2.0 software necessary for this computer to run in the federation server proxy role. If this parameter is not used, only the components required for the federation server role will be installed on this computer.

/norestart - Does not force a restart of the computer to complete setup, even if a restart is required.