diff --git a/InvenTree/InvenTree/apps.py b/InvenTree/InvenTree/apps.py
index 56eb653f27..8e4d04177f 100644
--- a/InvenTree/InvenTree/apps.py
+++ b/InvenTree/InvenTree/apps.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-"""AppConfig for inventree app."""
+"""AppConfig for InvenTree app."""
 
 import logging
 from importlib import import_module
diff --git a/tasks.py b/tasks.py
index 47cb383da1..e1cfd1b67e 100644
--- a/tasks.py
+++ b/tasks.py
@@ -59,7 +59,10 @@ def apps():
 
 
 def content_excludes(
-    allow_tokens: bool = True, allow_plugins: bool = True, allow_sso: bool = True
+    allow_auth: bool = True,
+    allow_tokens: bool = True,
+    allow_plugins: bool = True,
+    allow_sso: bool = True,
 ):
     """Returns a list of content types to exclude from import/export.
 
@@ -83,6 +86,11 @@ def content_excludes(
         'user_sessions.session',
     ]
 
+    # Optionally exclude user auth data
+    if not allow_auth:
+        excludes.append('auth.group')
+        excludes.append('auth.user')
+
     # Optionally exclude user token information
     if not allow_tokens:
         excludes.append('users.apitoken')
@@ -421,9 +429,9 @@ def update(c, skip_backup=False, frontend: bool = False, no_frontend: bool = Fal
         'overwrite': 'Overwrite existing files without asking first (default = False)',
         'include_permissions': 'Include user and group permissions in the output file (default = False)',
         'include_tokens': 'Include API tokens in the output file (default = False)',
-        'include_plugins': 'Include plugin data in the output file (default = False)',
+        'exclude_plugins': 'Exclude plugin data from the output file (default = False)',
         'include_sso': 'Include SSO token data in the output file (default = False)',
-        'delete_temp': 'Delete temporary files (containing permissions) at end of run. Note that this will delete temporary files from previous runs as well. (default = off/False)',
+        'retain_temp': 'Retain temporary files (containing permissions) at end of process (default = False)',
     }
 )
 def export_records(
@@ -432,9 +440,9 @@ def export_records(
     overwrite=False,
     include_permissions=False,
     include_tokens=False,
-    include_plugins=False,
+    exclude_plugins=False,
     include_sso=False,
-    delete_temp=False,
+    retain_temp=False,
 ):
     """Export all database records to a file.
 
@@ -465,11 +473,11 @@ def export_records(
 
     excludes = content_excludes(
         allow_tokens=include_tokens,
-        allow_plugins=include_plugins,
+        allow_plugins=not exclude_plugins,
         allow_sso=include_sso,
     )
 
-    cmd = f"dumpdata --indent 2 --output '{tmpfile}' {excludes}"
+    cmd = f"dumpdata --natural-foreign --indent 2 --output '{tmpfile}' {excludes}"
 
     # Dump data to temporary file
     manage(c, cmd, pty=True)
@@ -497,16 +505,22 @@ def export_records(
 
     print('Data export completed')
 
-    if delete_temp is True:
-        print('Removing temporary file')
+    if not retain_temp:
+        print('Removing temporary files')
         os.remove(tmpfile)
 
 
 @task(
-    help={'filename': 'Input filename', 'clear': 'Clear existing data before import'},
+    help={
+        'filename': 'Input filename',
+        'clear': 'Clear existing data before import',
+        'retain_temp': 'Retain temporary files at end of process (default = False)',
+    },
     post=[rebuild_models, rebuild_thumbnails],
 )
-def import_records(c, filename='data.json', clear=False):
+def import_records(
+    c, filename='data.json', clear: bool = False, retain_temp: bool = False
+):
     """Import database records from a file."""
     # Get an absolute path to the supplied filename
     if not os.path.isabs(filename):
@@ -521,11 +535,22 @@ def import_records(c, filename='data.json', clear=False):
 
     print(f"Importing database records from '{filename}'")
 
+    # We need to load 'auth' data (users / groups) *first*
+    # This is due to the users.owner model, which has a ContentType foreign key
+    authfile = f'{filename}.auth.json'
+
     # Pre-process the data, to remove any "permissions" specified for a user or group
-    tmpfile = f'{filename}.tmp.json'
+    datafile = f'{filename}.data.json'
 
     with open(filename, 'r') as f_in:
-        data = json.loads(f_in.read())
+        try:
+            data = json.loads(f_in.read())
+        except json.JSONDecodeError as exc:
+            print(f'Error: Failed to decode JSON file: {exc}')
+            sys.exit(1)
+
+    auth_data = []
+    load_data = []
 
     for entry in data:
         if 'model' in entry:
@@ -537,14 +562,41 @@ def import_records(c, filename='data.json', clear=False):
             if entry['model'] == 'auth.user':
                 entry['fields']['user_permissions'] = []
 
-    # Write the processed data to the tmp file
-    with open(tmpfile, 'w') as f_out:
-        f_out.write(json.dumps(data, indent=2))
+            # Save auth data for later
+            if entry['model'].startswith('auth.'):
+                auth_data.append(entry)
+            else:
+                load_data.append(entry)
+        else:
+            print('Warning: Invalid entry in data file')
+            print(entry)
 
-    cmd = f"loaddata '{tmpfile}' -i {content_excludes()}"
+    # Write the auth file data
+    with open(authfile, 'w') as f_out:
+        f_out.write(json.dumps(auth_data, indent=2))
+
+    # Write the processed data to the tmp file
+    with open(datafile, 'w') as f_out:
+        f_out.write(json.dumps(load_data, indent=2))
+
+    excludes = content_excludes(allow_auth=False)
+
+    # Import auth models first
+    print('Importing user auth data...')
+    cmd = f"loaddata '{authfile}'"
+    manage(c, cmd, pty=True)
+
+    # Import everything else next
+    print('Importing database records...')
+    cmd = f"loaddata '{datafile}' -i {excludes}"
 
     manage(c, cmd, pty=True)
 
+    if not retain_temp:
+        print('Removing temporary files')
+        os.remove(datafile)
+        os.remove(authfile)
+
     print('Data import completed')