Pi Headless Install Stuck on "METRICS: Creating controller"

That’s a new one. I have not encountered that in my other setups. Try tgp-2’s suggestions and get back with us if it doesn’t work.

I have also created a new guide that is pretty much the same guide except incorporates a script. It uses a script created by @odinb1 to do a lot of the heavy lifting. Raspberry Pi Easy Guide