diff --git a/rhel/automake.mk b/rhel/automake.mk
index 39e216b015..a46e6579b3 100644
--- a/rhel/automake.mk
+++ b/rhel/automake.mk
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@ EXTRA_DIST += \
 	rhel/usr_lib_systemd_system_ovn-controller-vtep.service \
 	rhel/usr_lib_systemd_system_ovn-northd.service \
 	rhel/usr_lib_firewalld_services_ovn-central-firewall-service.xml \
-	rhel/usr_lib_firewalld_services_ovn-host-firewall-service.xml
+	rhel/usr_lib_firewalld_services_ovn-host-firewall-service.xml \
+	rhel/usr_share_ovn_scripts_systemd_sysconfig.template
 
 update_rhel_spec = \
   $(AM_V_GEN)($(ro_shell) && sed -e 's,[@]VERSION[@],$(VERSION),g') \
diff --git a/rhel/ovn-fedora.spec.in b/rhel/ovn-fedora.spec.in
index cbca87511d..14035de9aa 100644
--- a/rhel/ovn-fedora.spec.in
+++ b/rhel/ovn-fedora.spec.in
@@ -186,6 +186,10 @@ make %{?_smp_mflags}
 rm -rf $RPM_BUILD_ROOT
 make install DESTDIR=$RPM_BUILD_ROOT
 
+install -p -D -m 0644 \
+        rhel/usr_share_ovn_scripts_systemd_sysconfig.template \
+        $RPM_BUILD_ROOT/%{_sysconfdir}/sysconfig/ovn
+
 for service in ovn-controller ovn-controller-vtep ovn-northd; do
         install -p -D -m 0644 \
                         rhel/usr_lib_systemd_system_${service}.service \
@@ -319,6 +323,14 @@ fi
     fi
 %endif
 
+%post
+%if %{with libcapng}
+if [ $1 -eq 1 ]; then
+    sed -i 's:^#OVN_USER_ID=:OVN_USER_ID=:' %{_sysconfdir}/sysconfig/ovn
+    sed -i 's:\(.*su\).*:\1 ovn ovn:' %{_sysconfdir}/logrotate.d/ovn
+fi
+%endif
+
 %post central
 %if 0%{?systemd_post:1}
     %systemd_post ovn-northd.service
@@ -413,6 +425,7 @@ if [ $1 -eq 1 ]; then
 fi
 
 %files
+%config(noreplace) %{_sysconfdir}/sysconfig/ovn
 %{_bindir}/ovn-nbctl
 %{_bindir}/ovn-sbctl
 %{_bindir}/ovn-trace
diff --git a/rhel/usr_lib_systemd_system_ovn-controller-vtep.service b/rhel/usr_lib_systemd_system_ovn-controller-vtep.service
index 832849488f..09ad0612cc 100644
--- a/rhel/usr_lib_systemd_system_ovn-controller-vtep.service
+++ b/rhel/usr_lib_systemd_system_ovn-controller-vtep.service
@@ -38,10 +38,12 @@ Restart=on-failure
 Environment=OVS_RUNDIR=%t/openvswitch
 Environment=OVN_RUNDIR=%t/ovn
 Environment=OVN_DB=unix:%t/ovn/ovnsb_db.sock
+EnvironmentFile=-/etc/sysconfig/ovn
 Environment=VTEP_DB=unix:%t/openvswitch/db.sock
 EnvironmentFile=-/etc/sysconfig/ovn-controller-vtep
 ExecStart=/usr/bin/ovn-controller-vtep -vconsole:emer -vsyslog:err -vfile:info \
           --log-file=/var/log/ovn/ovn-controller-vtep.log \
+          --ovn-user=${OVN_USER_ID} \
           --no-chdir --pidfile=${OVN_RUNDIR}/ovn-controller-vtep.pid \
           --ovnsb-db=${OVN_DB} --vtep-db=${VTEP_DB}
 
diff --git a/rhel/usr_lib_systemd_system_ovn-controller.service b/rhel/usr_lib_systemd_system_ovn-controller.service
index 6c8f33a270..15d0ac8530 100644
--- a/rhel/usr_lib_systemd_system_ovn-controller.service
+++ b/rhel/usr_lib_systemd_system_ovn-controller.service
@@ -24,8 +24,10 @@ Type=forking
 PIDFile=/var/run/ovn/ovn-controller.pid
 Restart=on-failure
 Environment=OVN_RUNDIR=%t/ovn OVS_RUNDIR=%t/openvswitch
+EnvironmentFile=-/etc/sysconfig/ovn
 EnvironmentFile=-/etc/sysconfig/ovn-controller
 ExecStart=/usr/share/ovn/scripts/ovn-ctl --no-monitor \
+           --ovn-user=${OVN_USER_ID} \
           start_controller $OVN_CONTROLLER_OPTS
 ExecStop=/usr/share/ovn/scripts/ovn-ctl stop_controller
 
diff --git a/rhel/usr_lib_systemd_system_ovn-northd.service b/rhel/usr_lib_systemd_system_ovn-northd.service
index 82c23cee4e..d281f861c0 100644
--- a/rhel/usr_lib_systemd_system_ovn-northd.service
+++ b/rhel/usr_lib_systemd_system_ovn-northd.service
@@ -21,8 +21,11 @@ After=syslog.target
 Type=oneshot
 RemainAfterExit=yes
 Environment=OVN_RUNDIR=%t/ovn OVN_DBDIR=/var/lib/ovn
+EnvironmentFile=-/etc/sysconfig/ovn
 EnvironmentFile=-/etc/sysconfig/ovn-northd
-ExecStart=/usr/share/ovn/scripts/ovn-ctl start_northd $OVN_NORTHD_OPTS
+ExecStartPre=-/usr/bin/chown -R ${OVN_USER_ID} ${OVN_DBDIR}
+ExecStart=/usr/share/ovn/scripts/ovn-ctl \
+          --ovn-user=${OVN_USER_ID} start_northd $OVN_NORTHD_OPTS
 ExecStop=/usr/share/ovn/scripts/ovn-ctl stop_northd
 
 [Install]
diff --git a/rhel/usr_share_ovn_scripts_systemd_sysconfig.template b/rhel/usr_share_ovn_scripts_systemd_sysconfig.template
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4543d1bc91
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rhel/usr_share_ovn_scripts_systemd_sysconfig.template
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+### Configuration options for OVN
+#
+# Set "nice" priority at which to run ovn-northd:
+# --ovn-northd-priority=-10
+#
+# Set "nice" priority at which to run ovn-controller:
+# --ovn-controller-priority=-10
+#
+#
+OPTIONS=""
+
+# Uncomment and set the OVN User/Group value
+#OVN_USER_ID="openvswitch:openvswitch"
diff --git a/utilities/ovn-ctl b/utilities/ovn-ctl
index 6e11bf944b..c955aa1776 100755
--- a/utilities/ovn-ctl
+++ b/utilities/ovn-ctl
@@ -183,6 +183,18 @@ $cluster_remote_port
         upgrade_db "$file" "$schema"
     fi
 
+    # Set the owner of the ovn_dbdir (with -R option) to OVN_USER if set.
+    # This is required because the ovndbs are created with root permission
+    # if not present when create_cluster/upgrade_db is called.
+    INSTALL_USER="root"
+    INSTALL_GROUP="root"
+    [ "$OVN_USER" != "" ] && INSTALL_USER="${OVN_USER%:*}"
+    [ "${OVN_USER##*:}" != "" ] && INSTALL_GROUP="${OVN_USER##*:}"
+
+    chown -R $INSTALL_USER:$INSTALL_GROUP $ovn_dbdir
+    chown -R $INSTALL_USER:$INSTALL_GROUP $OVN_RUNDIR
+    chown -R $INSTALL_USER:$INSTALL_GROUP $ovn_logdir
+
     set ovsdb-server
     set "$@" $log --log-file=$logfile
     set "$@" --remote=punix:$sock --pidfile=$db_pid_file