Why should Hashicorp Packer file provisioner use temp directory?

Question

I wonder what are the benefits of indirect file upload within /tmp directory Packer file provisioner doc suggests?

It's reasonable to assume uploading file/directory to the destination place without any intermediates.

Answer 1

This is probably recommended because the /tmp directory on any machine will likely fit the requirements mentioned in the docs for the destination parameter:

This value must be a writable location and any parent directories must already exist.

The /tmp directory usually exists and is usually readable and writeable by any process on your machine, so it's a good suggestion as a standard destination folder.