
I’d reccomend using RMAN to do the backup without shutting down the database.
If you’ve configured Enterprise Manager then you can use that to automate RMAN.
If you insist on shutting the database down and doing a file backup then you can use Enterprise Manager (if configured) to shutdown Oracle and restart it.

You can use the commands SHUTDOWN and STARTUP on SQL*Plus (if you use 8i or older use SVRMGR). You must logon “AS SYSDBA” or “AS SYSOPER”.
Ex: CONN USER/PWD@ALIAS AS SYSOPER

Whilst using shutdown from within SQL*Plus or svrmgrl *should* work it leaves the service running. Experience has shown that this can cause problems with backups (anything from slowing the backup down (common) through to corrupting the datafiles (rare, but it happens)).
Enterprise Manager uses an SNMP service running on the server to shutdown the Oracle database service.
















