diff --git a/conf/zeppelin-site.xml.template b/conf/zeppelin-site.xml.template
index b12a072c148..e665a9b3c10 100755
--- a/conf/zeppelin-site.xml.template
+++ b/conf/zeppelin-site.xml.template
@@ -410,6 +410,12 @@
   <description>Anonymous user allowed by default</description>
 </property>
 
+<property>
+  <name>zeppelin.username.force.lowercase</name>
+  <value>false</value>
+  <description>Force convert username case to lower case, useful for Active Directory/LDAP. Default is not to change case</description>
+</property>
+
 <property>
   <name>zeppelin.notebook.default.owner.username</name>
   <value></value>
diff --git a/zeppelin-interpreter/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/conf/ZeppelinConfiguration.java b/zeppelin-interpreter/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/conf/ZeppelinConfiguration.java
index 2960cd03faa..061e230be14 100644
--- a/zeppelin-interpreter/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/conf/ZeppelinConfiguration.java
+++ b/zeppelin-interpreter/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/conf/ZeppelinConfiguration.java
@@ -517,6 +517,10 @@ public boolean isAnonymousAllowed() {
     return getBoolean(ConfVars.ZEPPELIN_ANONYMOUS_ALLOWED);
   }
 
+  public boolean isUsernameForceLowerCase() {
+    return getBoolean(ConfVars.ZEPPELIN_USERNAME_FORCE_LOWERCASE);
+  }
+
   public boolean isNotebookPublic() {
     return getBoolean(ConfVars.ZEPPELIN_NOTEBOOK_PUBLIC);
   }
@@ -767,6 +771,7 @@ public enum ConfVars {
     // i.e. http://localhost:8080
     ZEPPELIN_ALLOWED_ORIGINS("zeppelin.server.allowed.origins", "*"),
     ZEPPELIN_ANONYMOUS_ALLOWED("zeppelin.anonymous.allowed", true),
+    ZEPPELIN_USERNAME_FORCE_LOWERCASE("zeppelin.username.force.lowercase", false),
     ZEPPELIN_CREDENTIALS_PERSIST("zeppelin.credentials.persist", true),
     ZEPPELIN_CREDENTIALS_ENCRYPT_KEY("zeppelin.credentials.encryptKey", null),
     ZEPPELIN_WEBSOCKET_MAX_TEXT_MESSAGE_SIZE("zeppelin.websocket.max.text.message.size", "1024000"),
diff --git a/zeppelin-interpreter/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/interpreter/InterpreterOption.java b/zeppelin-interpreter/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/interpreter/InterpreterOption.java
index e8a92255fc9..0c01d97ecf7 100644
--- a/zeppelin-interpreter/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/interpreter/InterpreterOption.java
+++ b/zeppelin-interpreter/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/interpreter/InterpreterOption.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
+import org.apache.zeppelin.conf.ZeppelinConfiguration;
 
 /**
  *
@@ -27,6 +28,7 @@ public class InterpreterOption {
   public static final transient String SHARED = "shared";
   public static final transient String SCOPED = "scoped";
   public static final transient String ISOLATED = "isolated";
+  private static ZeppelinConfiguration conf =  ZeppelinConfiguration.create();
 
   // always set it as true, keep this field just for backward compatibility
   boolean remote = true;
@@ -66,6 +68,13 @@ public void setUserPermission(boolean setPermission) {
   }
 
   public List<String> getOwners() {
+    if (null != owners && conf.isUsernameForceLowerCase()) {
+      List<String> lowerCaseUsers = new ArrayList<String>();
+      for (String owner : owners) {
+        lowerCaseUsers.add(owner.toLowerCase());
+      }
+      return lowerCaseUsers;
+    }
     return owners;
   }
 
diff --git a/zeppelin-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/utils/SecurityUtils.java b/zeppelin-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/utils/SecurityUtils.java
index f9f5f228ff0..f5329f31683 100644
--- a/zeppelin-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/utils/SecurityUtils.java
+++ b/zeppelin-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/utils/SecurityUtils.java
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@
 import org.apache.zeppelin.conf.ZeppelinConfiguration;
 import org.apache.zeppelin.realm.ActiveDirectoryGroupRealm;
 import org.apache.zeppelin.realm.LdapRealm;
+import org.apache.zeppelin.server.ZeppelinServer;
 
 /**
  * Tools for securing Zeppelin.
@@ -91,6 +92,11 @@ public static String getPrincipal() {
     String principal;
     if (subject.isAuthenticated()) {
       principal = extractPrincipal(subject);
+      if (ZeppelinServer.notebook.getConf().isUsernameForceLowerCase()) {
+        log.debug("Converting principal name " + principal
+            + " to lower case:" + principal.toLowerCase());
+        principal = principal.toLowerCase();
+      }
     } else {
       principal = ANONYMOUS;
     }
diff --git a/zeppelin-server/src/test/java/org/apache/zeppelin/security/SecurityUtilsTest.java b/zeppelin-server/src/test/java/org/apache/zeppelin/security/SecurityUtilsTest.java
index ac6f1688002..0c535b968eb 100644
--- a/zeppelin-server/src/test/java/org/apache/zeppelin/security/SecurityUtilsTest.java
+++ b/zeppelin-server/src/test/java/org/apache/zeppelin/security/SecurityUtilsTest.java
@@ -21,23 +21,26 @@
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.lang.reflect.Field;
+import java.lang.reflect.Modifier;
+import java.net.InetAddress;
+import java.net.URISyntaxException;
+import java.net.UnknownHostException;
 import org.apache.commons.configuration.ConfigurationException;
+import org.apache.zeppelin.conf.ZeppelinConfiguration;
+import org.apache.zeppelin.notebook.Notebook;
+import org.apache.zeppelin.server.ZeppelinServer;
+import org.apache.zeppelin.utils.SecurityUtils;
 import org.junit.Test;
 import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
 import org.mockito.Mock;
+import org.mockito.Mockito;
 import org.powermock.api.mockito.PowerMockito;
 import org.powermock.core.classloader.annotations.PrepareForTest;
 import org.powermock.modules.junit4.PowerMockRunner;
-
-import java.net.InetAddress;
-import java.net.URISyntaxException;
-import java.net.UnknownHostException;
-
 import sun.security.acl.PrincipalImpl;
 
-import org.apache.zeppelin.conf.ZeppelinConfiguration;
-import org.apache.zeppelin.utils.SecurityUtils;
-
 @RunWith(PowerMockRunner.class)
 @PrepareForTest(org.apache.shiro.SecurityUtils.class)
 public class SecurityUtilsTest {
@@ -113,12 +116,49 @@ public void notAURIOrigin()
   @Test
   public void canGetPrincipalName()  {
     String expectedName = "java.security.Principal.getName()";
+    setupPrincipalName(expectedName);
+    assertEquals(expectedName, SecurityUtils.getPrincipal());
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testUsernameForceLowerCase() throws IOException, InterruptedException {
+    String expectedName = "java.security.Principal.getName()";
+    System.setProperty(ZeppelinConfiguration.ConfVars.ZEPPELIN_USERNAME_FORCE_LOWERCASE
+        .getVarName(), String.valueOf(true));
+    setupPrincipalName(expectedName);
+    assertEquals(expectedName.toLowerCase(), SecurityUtils.getPrincipal());
+
+  }
+
+  private void setupPrincipalName(String expectedName) {
     SecurityUtils.setIsEnabled(true);
     PowerMockito.mockStatic(org.apache.shiro.SecurityUtils.class);
     when(org.apache.shiro.SecurityUtils.getSubject()).thenReturn(subject);
     when(subject.isAuthenticated()).thenReturn(true);
     when(subject.getPrincipal()).thenReturn(new PrincipalImpl(expectedName));
 
-    assertEquals(expectedName, SecurityUtils.getPrincipal());
+    Notebook notebook = Mockito.mock(Notebook.class);
+    try {
+      setFinalStatic(ZeppelinServer.class.getDeclaredField("notebook"), notebook);
+      when(ZeppelinServer.notebook.getConf())
+          .thenReturn(new ZeppelinConfiguration(this.getClass().getResource("/zeppelin-site.xml")));
+    } catch (NoSuchFieldException e) {
+      e.printStackTrace();
+    } catch (IllegalAccessException e) {
+      e.printStackTrace();
+    } catch (ConfigurationException e) {
+      e.printStackTrace();
+    }
+  }
+
+  private void setFinalStatic(Field field, Object newValue)
+      throws NoSuchFieldException, IllegalAccessException {
+    field.setAccessible(true);
+    Field modifiersField = Field.class.getDeclaredField("modifiers");
+    modifiersField.setAccessible(true);
+    modifiersField.setInt(field, field.getModifiers() & ~Modifier.FINAL);
+    field.set(null, newValue);
   }
+
+
 }
diff --git a/zeppelin-zengine/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/notebook/NotebookAuthorization.java b/zeppelin-zengine/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/notebook/NotebookAuthorization.java
index f73b49e3a09..137af651aa9 100644
--- a/zeppelin-zengine/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/notebook/NotebookAuthorization.java
+++ b/zeppelin-zengine/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/notebook/NotebookAuthorization.java
@@ -205,6 +205,21 @@ public void setWriters(String noteId, Set<String> entities) {
     saveToFile();
   }
 
+  /*
+  * If case conversion is enforced, then change entity names to lower case
+  */
+  private Set<String> checkCaseAndConvert(Set<String> entities) {
+    if (conf.isUsernameForceLowerCase()) {
+      Set<String> set2 = new HashSet<String>();
+      for (String name : entities) {
+        set2.add(name.toLowerCase());
+      }
+      return set2;
+    } else {
+      return entities;
+    }
+  }
+
   public Set<String> getOwners(String noteId) {
     Map<String, Set<String>> noteAuthInfo = authInfo.get(noteId);
     Set<String> entities = null;
@@ -214,6 +229,8 @@ public Set<String> getOwners(String noteId) {
       entities = noteAuthInfo.get("owners");
       if (entities == null) {
         entities = new HashSet<>();
+      } else {
+        entities = checkCaseAndConvert(entities);
       }
     }
     return entities;
@@ -228,6 +245,8 @@ public Set<String> getReaders(String noteId) {
       entities = noteAuthInfo.get("readers");
       if (entities == null) {
         entities = new HashSet<>();
+      } else {
+        entities = checkCaseAndConvert(entities);
       }
     }
     return entities;
@@ -242,6 +261,8 @@ public Set<String> getRunners(String noteId) {
       entities = noteAuthInfo.get("runners");
       if (entities == null) {
         entities = new HashSet<>();
+      } else {
+        entities = checkCaseAndConvert(entities);
       }
     }
     return entities;
@@ -256,6 +277,8 @@ public Set<String> getWriters(String noteId) {
       entities = noteAuthInfo.get("writers");
       if (entities == null) {
         entities = new HashSet<>();
+      } else {
+        entities = checkCaseAndConvert(entities);
       }
     }
     return entities;