Update 2019: The link from msdn that answers this question is now a dead link, but can be found on wayback machine here:
https://web.archive.org/web/20160223061509/http://blogs.msdn.com/b/profiler/archive/2010/07/23/tip-fixing-vsperfaspnetcmd-metabase-errors.aspx.
This page says:
The information in the error is correct and it is worth checking to make sure that you are running from an elevated command prompt, but it does miss a common configuration issue. In order to query for information from the IIS metabase, certain IIS components need to be installed
To check this in Windows 7:
- Open ‘Control Panel\Programs\Programs and Features’ (or run ‘appwiz.cpl’).
- Choose ‘Turn Windows features on or off’.
- In the ‘Internet Information Services’ section, make sure that the following options are selected.
The non-default options include:
- IIS 6 Scripting Tools
- IIS 6 WMI Compatibility
- IIS Metabase and IIS 6 configuration compatibility
- ASP.NET,
- Windows Authentication