Is it possible to copy mounted database without RMAN? I need to make a copy of production database for development. For some reason I can't use RMAN. My question is: can I copy standby database while its in mounted state and recovery is canceled? Of course I can shut it down to make a "cold backup", but I do not want to lose time for manually copying new archive logs (and I don't have enough space on primary for keeping them for a long time).

The procedure was fine until today. After a few hours I got this:

/usr/sfw/bin/gtar: owfin_d/owfin_d06.dbf: file changed as we read it.


It is strange because timestamps on all db files shows the time when I canceled standby recovery.

UPD After a long time I found the problem. For some reason a scrip on cron schedule changes file permissions and tar responds with "file changed as we read it".
If you change file's permissions during copy operation, tar will throw "file changes as we read it".