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+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-SA-2.0-UK
+
+Optionally Using an External Toolchain
+**************************************
+
+You might want to use an external toolchain as part of your development.
+If this is the case, the fundamental steps you need to accomplish are as
+follows:
+
+-  Understand where the installed toolchain resides. For cases where you
+   need to build the external toolchain, you would need to take separate
+   steps to build and install the toolchain.
+
+-  Make sure you add the layer that contains the toolchain to your
+   ``bblayers.conf`` file through the
+   :term:`BBLAYERS` variable.
+
+-  Set the :term:`EXTERNAL_TOOLCHAIN` variable in your ``local.conf`` file
+   to the location in which you installed the toolchain.
+
+The toolchain configuration is very flexible and customizable. It
+is primarily controlled with the :term:`TCMODE` variable. This variable
+controls which ``tcmode-*.inc`` file to include from the
+``meta/conf/distro/include`` directory within the :term:`Source Directory`.
+
+The default value of :term:`TCMODE` is "default", which tells the
+OpenEmbedded build system to use its internally built toolchain (i.e.
+``tcmode-default.inc``). However, other patterns are accepted. In
+particular, "external-\*" refers to external toolchains. One example is
+the Mentor Graphics Sourcery G++ Toolchain. Support for this toolchain resides
+in the separate ``meta-sourcery`` layer at
+https://github.com/MentorEmbedded/meta-sourcery/.
+See its ``README`` file for details about how to use this layer.
+
+Another example of external toolchain layer is
+:yocto_git:`meta-arm-toolchain </meta-arm/tree/meta-arm-toolchain/>`
+supporting GNU toolchains released by ARM.
+
+You can find further information by reading about the :term:`TCMODE` variable
+in the Yocto Project Reference Manual's variable glossary.