Convert .mdb to .gdb in ArcGIS PRO without desktop

[Ripley]

How can I convert a personal geodatabase to a file geodatabase in ArcGIS Pro? My institute no longer has access to Desktop. It's extremely frustrating that ESRI has discontinued support for a major file type.

In python3.6 (ArcPro), arcpy cannot list the datasets in personal geodabase(*.mdb) files, so this conversion can't be scripted like it can in Desktop. Folks on reddit suggested using the model builder, but no one seems to have a solution besides empty suggestions. For now, I have stopped using ArcGIS for most things and just use QGIS.

If ESRI has no long term solution to handle mdb's, my team will most likely switch to QGIS as our sole GIS software as we use old mdb's frequently.

[DanPatterson]

from

ArcMap frequently asked questions—ArcGIS Pro | Documentation

Can I use personal geodatabases (.mdb) as data sources for ArcGIS Pro?

Personal geodatabases are not supported in ArcGIS Pro. However, in ArcMap you can run a geoprocessing tool to convert personal geodatabases to file geodatabases. Alternatively, in ArcGIS Pro you can make an OLE DB connection to a personal geodatabase. This gives you a read-only view of the data and allows you to import the data into a supported geodatabase.

[Luke_Pinner]

See the It's Not Personal blog series, the first part of which explains why personal geodatabases aren’t supported in ArcGIS Pro.

Part 1 – quick summary

It’s Not Personal, is the first blog in this blog series and explains why personal geodatabases aren’t supported in ArcGIS Pro.

Microsoft has deprecated support for the Microsoft Jet Database Engine 4.0 libraries and considers t.... This is the Microsoft technology that previously made support for personal geodatabases possible in ArcMap within ArcGIS Desktop. Also, there are no 64-bit versions of these libraries and ArcGIS Pro is a 64-bit application. Since the technology used to make personal geodatabases is no longer supported and Microsoft is advising against using these deprecated formats, there is no viable or supported path forward for offering personal geodatabases in ArcGIS Pro. Moving forward, our recommendation is to migrate your data from a personal geodatabase to either a file or mobile geodatabase.