IPM must be run on the same machine as the Ingres installation that is to be monitored and must be pointed at the desired installation just as any application or embedded user program.

Because IPM opens the master database (iidbdb) to get a list of databases and opens other databases to get table names, the installation must be in a state to allow database connections.

An exception is the stand-alone mode (the -s option). In stand-alone mode, IPM does not require DBMS servers to accept connections, but can show logging and locking information only, not server and session information.