Offline Backups Using RMAN

RMAN can be used for offline backups regardless if the database is in ARCHIVELOG or NOARCHIVELOG mode.
SQL> select LOG_MODE from v$database;
LOG_MODE ------------ NOARCHIVELOG 1 row selected


Shutdown the database and start the instance in mount mode

SQL> shutdown immediate;
Database closed.
Database dismounted.
ORACLE instance shut down

SQL> startup mount;
ORACLE instance started.
Total System Global Area  209715200 bytes
Fixed Size                  1289748 bytes
Variable Size             138412524 bytes
Database Buffers           67108864 bytes
Redo Buffers                2904064 bytes
Database mounted.
SQL> exit

Use RMAN to backup the database

$ rman target /
Recovery Manager: Release 10.2.0.1.0 - Production on Wed May 30 20:23:56 2007
Copyright (c) 1982, 2005, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

connected to target database: O10GR2 (DBID=1094333359, not open)

RMAN> backup database;

Starting backup at 30-MAY-07
using target database control file instead of recovery catalog
allocated channel: ORA_DISK_1
channel ORA_DISK_1: sid=156 devtype=DISK
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting full datafile backupset
channel ORA_DISK_1: specifying datafile(s) in backupset
input datafile fno=00001 name=/app/oracle/product/10.2.0/db_1/oradata/o10gr2/system01.dbf
input datafile fno=00003 name=/app/oracle/product/10.2.0/db_1/oradata/o10gr2/sysaux01.dbf
input datafile fno=00005 name=/app/oracle/product/10.2.0/db_1/oradata/o10gr2/example01.dbf
input datafile fno=00004 name=/app/oracle/product/10.2.0/db_1/oradata/o10gr2/users01.dbf
input datafile fno=00002 name=/app/oracle/product/10.2.0/db_1/oradata/o10gr2/undotbs01.dbf
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting piece 1 at 30-MAY-07
channel ORA_DISK_1: finished piece 1 at 30-MAY-07
piece handle=/app/oracle/product/10.2.0/db_1/flash_recovery_area/O10GR2/backupset/2007_05_30/o1_mf_nnndf_TAG20070530T202407_35vjb7cs_.bkp tag=TAG20070530T202407 comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_1: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:01:15
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting full datafile backupset
channel ORA_DISK_1: specifying datafile(s) in backupset
including current control file in backupset
including current SPFILE in backupset
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting piece 1 at 30-MAY-07
channel ORA_DISK_1: finished piece 1 at 30-MAY-07
piece handle=/app/oracle/product/10.2.0/db_1/flash_recovery_area/O10GR2/backupset/2007_05_30/o1_mf_ncsnf_TAG20070530T202407_35vjdny9_.bkp tag=TAG20070530T202407 comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_1: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:00:03
Finished backup at 30-MAY-07