As far as I know, the ability to fetch objects from APIC doesn't require anything to be installed on the APIC.
If you want enforcement through the APIC, then you need to install the relevant packages.
To connect to the APIC, create a new Data Center object.
In the Object Viewer, New > More > Server > Data Center > APIC
Once you've done that, you should be able to import objects from APIC into your policy.
On the relevant rule, click on the Plus in the Source or Destination field.
Click on the Import button (upper right of objects dialog) and select your APIC Data Center object.
Browse the object store to find the objects of interest.