ORA-65026 XML metadata file error : LPX-00202: could not open

In the process of converting a non-CDB database to a PDB database, once you describe a non-CDB database into and xml file and then try creating a PDB using this xml file, your CREATE PLUGGABLE DATABASE command may fail with this error message.

SQL> create  pluggable database pdb2 using '/u01/app/oracle/noncdb.xml' copy  FILE_NAME_CONVERT=('+DATA','+NEWDATA'); create  pluggable database pdb2 using '/u01/app/oracle/noncdb.xml' copy  FILE_NAME_CONVERT=('+DATA','+NEWDATA') * ERROR at line 1: ORA-65026: XML metadata file error : LPX-00202: could not open "/u01/app/oracle/noncdb.xml" (error 200)

There could be 2 main reasons for this error message. Either you have provided wrong name/path of the xml file, or you don’t have permissions on this xml file.

To solve the issue, double check if you have provided wrong name (also check case sensitivity on UNIX based platforms) or path, and also confirm that your OS user has permissions to read this xml file.