# EPUBCheck RSC-002: container.xml missing, how to fix it

Source: https://epubcc.com/epubcheck/rsc-002/ (updated 2026-11-04)

EPUBCheck RSC-002 is a fatal error message: “Required META-INF/container.xml resource could not be found.” The archive has no META-INF/container.xml, the file that tells reading apps where the package document is. Without it the EPUB cannot be opened at all, so EPUBCheck stops with a fatal error.

- Official message (EPUBCheck 5.4.0): Required META-INF/container.xml resource could not be found.
- Default severity: Fatal error

## Typical causes

- The META-INF folder was left out when the book was zipped.
- The file is named or placed differently, such as meta-inf/Container.xml.
- The archive was built from inside the content folder instead of from the book's root.

## How to fix it

1. Add META-INF/container.xml with a rootfile whose full-path points to the package document, for example <rootfile full-path="OEBPS/content.opf" media-type="application/oebps-package+xml"/>.
2. Rebuild the archive with the mimetype file first and stored uncompressed, for example from the folder that contains the book: zip -X0 book.epub mimetype and then zip -rX9 book.epub META-INF OEBPS (use your own folder names).
3. Validate again.

## When it's not this

If container.xml exists but points to a missing package document, that is PKG-020.

## Sources

- EPUB 3.3, §4.2.6.3.1 Container file (container.xml): https://www.w3.org/TR/epub-33/#sec-container-metainf-container.xml (read 2026-11-04)

Message text and severity: EPUBCheck (W3C, BSD-3-Clause). Explanation: EpubCC.