Thanks to a recent Configuration Manager TechNet forum posting, I realized that we hadn't documented the prerequisites for the fallback status point, apart from saying that it required IIS.  When we released Configuration Manager 2007, we didn't support Windows Server 2008, and configuration for IIS was much simpler.  Consequently, I'm not aware of any problems installing this optional site system role on IIS 6.0. 

Then, with Configuration Manager SP1 we supported Windows Server 2008 with IIS 7.0 and we had to detail the IIS configuration in order for our site systems to work: How to Configure Windows Server 2008 for Site Systems. For some reason, the fallback status point wasn't included.  We knew that it had fewer configuration requirements than many of the other site systems, and following the same instructions for the management point was a safe bet because they share common components.  But we were missing what the minimal requirements were, so sent out an urgent request to the product group - and Jeff Nordrum came to the rescue. 

Jeff confirmed the following requirements, how to verify installation, and even some troubleshooting tips.  We got this information just in time to update the prerequisites in the Configuration Manager library for the February update.  However, we didn't have time to incorporate the useful verification/troubleshooting information, so in case anybody is having problems getting the fallback status point to work, I'm including this additional information here.

Fallback Status Point Prerequisites

Windows 2003 Requirements:

• IIS with BITS Server Extensions allowed

Win2008 Requirements:

• Web Server (IIS) (Role)
• IIS 6 Management Compatibility - IIS 6 Metabase and IIS 6 WMI Compatibility (Role Services for Web Server)
• BITS Server Extensions (Feature)

Additional notes:

• With just plain vanilla IIS installed, the fallback status point will not install successfully.
• With the IIS 6 Management Compatibility selected, the fallback status point will install but not work (client state messages fail to reach the fallback status point).
• With the Web Server role, and IIS 6 Management Compatibility (IIS 6 Metabase and IIS 6 WMI Compatibility) and BITS Server Extensions feature installed, the fallback status point will work and successfully process state messages.

How to Verify & Troubleshoot Installation of the Fallback Status Point

Use the following log files to verify and help troubleshoot the fallback status point.

Fallback status point installation log files:

• fspmsi.log (SMS\Logs folder) on the site system server with the fallback status point role.
• smsfspsetup.log (SMS\Logs folder) on the site system server with the fallback status point role.

Verify the installation using both of these log files.  They will log success or failure. If failure, search for ‘return value 3' in the fspmsi.log - log entry above this will contain the installation error details.

Fallback status point site system log files:

• fspisapi.log (SMS_CCM\Logs folder) on the site system server with the fallback status point role.
• fspmgr.log (SMS\Logs folder) on the site system server with the fallback status point role.

Use these log files to verify whether clients are successfully sending state messages to the fallback status point.  You can also check that the reports that depend on the fallback status point are populated with data if clients are assigned to it - for example, "Client Deployment Status Details" (for list of reports that rely on the fallback status point, see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb633154.aspx).

Note: This information was originally contributed by Carol Bailey on the Configuration Manager Team blog:

http://blogs.technet.com/configmgrteam/archive/2009/02/18/the-fallback-status-point-prerequisites-verification-and-troubleshooting.aspx