Oracle Backup & Recovery Techniques - Oracle 10g Database Administration Concepts and Implementation Made Simple - page 270

RMAN> connect target / nocatalog
This command will make RMAN utilize control file of database
we want to backup, as repository for RMAN. Once you are
connected to RMAN then the next thing would be to select
whether you want to create Backup Sets or Image Copies.
Creating Backup Sets:
After connecting to RMAN and at the RMAN prompt execute
the following command to create the backup sets.
RMAN> RUN {
ALLOCATE CHANNEL ch1 TYPE DISK;
BACKUP DATABASE FORMAT '/bkup/%U';
BACKUP (ARCHIVELOG ALL) FORMAT '/bkarc/arc_%p';
RELEASE CHANNEL ch1;
}
This command will perform the complete database backup
including archive log files. The BACKUP DATABASE clause
backs up all the data files, control file and server parameter file
(spfile) if used. In the above command %U defines the format of
the backup sets name. Where %U is the abbreviation for
%u_%p_%c. Where %u stands for 8 character name, %p stands
for backup piece number within the backup set and %c means
the copy number of backup piece within the backup set.
We can also do the backup of tablespace and control file
separately by using the following commands after connection
with RMAN.
RMAN> RUN {
ALLOCATE CHANNEL ch1 TYPE DISK;
BACKUP TABLESPACE users INCLUDE CURRENT
CONTROLFILE;
RELEASE CHANNEL ch1;
}