Database Software

Hello Forum...

I've posted a similar question to metalink but I don't think there's much activity there, so do excuse me if I bother you guys too.

I've inherited an Oracle Lite server and application that is used in some of the world's most remote regions. I can't touch the production server, and so I want to recreate the entire environment (mobile server, repository, application schema, etc) in a separate test environment.
Has anyone done this - created a copy of a running production system for testing? What gotchyas should I be looking out for? I'm particularly nervous about getting the new server to use a copy of an already established repository.

thanks for any suggestions.
/j-p.