Oracle 12.2 : Is there a way to copy pdb from one server to another in production env From time to time, customers need to send their database to us for analysis. We like the PDB feature of Oracle 12.2, and we are willing to use it for shipping our customer's database for analysis 

Can a customer create the db file while the database is up and running? We need them to keep the database up while they create the back up file.
The hot cloning of PDBs is a new feature introduced in 12.2.

Cloning a PDB


  Cloning of a pluggable database (PDB) resolves the issue of setting
  the source system to read-only mode before creating a full or snapshot
  clone of a PDB. With this feature, you can now clone your production
  PDBs and create point-in-time copies for development or testing
  without any application outage.
  
  This feature eliminates the need to create application outages for the
  purpose of cloning.


So the PDB in question can be easily cloned without downtime, then the customer can send you the clone PDB.