diff --git a/superset/db_engine_specs.py b/superset/db_engine_specs.py
index 71c6ab20d9b6f..c9ed303473a6e 100644
--- a/superset/db_engine_specs.py
+++ b/superset/db_engine_specs.py
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@
 from sqlalchemy.sql import text
 from flask_babel import lazy_gettext as _
 
+from sqlalchemy.engine.url import make_url
+
 from superset.utils import SupersetTemplateException
 from superset.utils import QueryStatus
 from superset import conf, cache_util, utils
@@ -184,6 +186,28 @@ def select_star(cls, my_db, table_name, schema=None, limit=100,
             sql = sqlparse.format(sql, reindent=True)
         return sql
 
+    @classmethod
+    def modify_url_for_impersonation(cls, url, impersonate_user, username):
+        """
+        Modify the SQL Alchemy URL object with the user to impersonate if applicable.
+        :param url: SQLAlchemy URL object
+        :param impersonate_user: Bool indicating if impersonation is enabled
+        :param username: Effective username
+        """
+        if impersonate_user is not None and username is not None:
+            url.username = username
+
+    @classmethod
+    def get_uri_for_impersonation(cls, uri, impersonate_user, username):
+        """
+        Return a new URI string that allows for user impersonation.
+        :param uri: URI string
+        :param impersonate_user:  Bool indicating if impersonation is enabled
+        :param username: Effective username
+        :return: New URI string
+        """
+        return uri
+
 
 class PostgresEngineSpec(BaseEngineSpec):
     engine = 'postgresql'
@@ -677,6 +701,7 @@ def patch(cls):
         hive.constants = patched_constants
         hive.ttypes = patched_ttypes
         hive.Cursor.fetch_logs = patched_hive.fetch_logs
+        hive.Connection = patched_hive.ConnectionProxyUser
 
     @classmethod
     @cache_util.memoized_func(
@@ -830,6 +855,35 @@ def _partition_query(
             cls, table_name, limit=0, order_by=None, filters=None):
         return "SHOW PARTITIONS {table_name}".format(**locals())
 
+    @classmethod
+    def modify_url_for_impersonation(cls, url, impersonate_user, username):
+        """
+        Modify the SQL Alchemy URL object with the user to impersonate if applicable.
+        :param url: SQLAlchemy URL object
+        :param impersonate_user: Bool indicating if impersonation is enabled
+        :param username: Effective username
+        """
+        if impersonate_user is not None and "auth" in url.query.keys() and username is not None:
+            url.query["hive_server2_proxy_user"] = username
+
+    @classmethod
+    def get_uri_for_impersonation(cls, uri, impersonate_user, username):
+        """
+        Return a new URI string that allows for user impersonation.
+        :param uri: URI string
+        :param impersonate_user:  Bool indicating if impersonation is enabled
+        :param username: Effective username
+        :return: New URI string
+        """
+        new_uri = uri
+        url = make_url(uri)
+        backend_name = url.get_backend_name()
+
+        # Must be Hive connection, enable impersonation, and set param auth=LDAP|KERBEROS
+        if backend_name == "hive" and "auth" in url.query.keys() and\
+                        impersonate_user is True and username is not None:
+            new_uri += "&hive_server2_proxy_user={0}".format(username)
+        return new_uri
 
 class MssqlEngineSpec(BaseEngineSpec):
     engine = 'mssql'
diff --git a/superset/db_engines/hive.py b/superset/db_engines/hive.py
index f14608410823a..334ae0a4b2d87 100644
--- a/superset/db_engines/hive.py
+++ b/superset/db_engines/hive.py
@@ -3,6 +3,28 @@
 from thrift import Thrift
 
 
+old_Connection = hive.Connection
+
+# TODO
+# Monkey-patch of PyHive project's pyhive/hive.py which needed to change the constructor.
+# Submitted a pull request on October 13, 2017 and waiting for it to be merged.
+# https://github.com/dropbox/PyHive/pull/165
+class ConnectionProxyUser(hive.Connection):
+
+    def __init__(self, host=None, port=None, username=None, database='default', auth=None,
+             configuration=None, kerberos_service_name=None, password=None,
+             thrift_transport=None, hive_server2_proxy_user=None):
+        configuration = configuration or {}
+        if auth is not None and auth in ('LDAP', 'KERBEROS'):
+            if hive_server2_proxy_user is not None:
+                configuration["hive.server2.proxy.user"] = hive_server2_proxy_user
+        # restore the old connection class, otherwise, will recurse on its own __init__ method
+        hive.Connection = old_Connection
+        hive.Connection.__init__(self, host=host, port=port, username=username, database=database, auth=auth,
+                 configuration=configuration, kerberos_service_name=kerberos_service_name, password=password,
+                 thrift_transport=thrift_transport)
+
+
 # TODO: contribute back to pyhive.
 def fetch_logs(self, max_rows=1024,
                orientation=ttypes.TFetchOrientation.FETCH_NEXT):
diff --git a/superset/models/core.py b/superset/models/core.py
index 7392e8796a571..1a795c2ebde22 100644
--- a/superset/models/core.py
+++ b/superset/models/core.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 from future.standard_library import install_aliases
 from copy import copy
 from datetime import datetime, date
+from copy import deepcopy
 
 import pandas as pd
 import sqlalchemy as sqla
@@ -47,6 +48,7 @@
 stats_logger = config.get('STATS_LOGGER')
 metadata = Model.metadata  # pylint: disable=no-member
 
+PASSWORD_MASK = "X" * 10
 
 def set_related_perm(mapper, connection, target):  # noqa
     src_class = target.cls_model
@@ -581,30 +583,56 @@ def backend(self):
         url = make_url(self.sqlalchemy_uri_decrypted)
         return url.get_backend_name()
 
+    @classmethod
+    def get_password_masked_url_from_uri(cls, uri):
+        url = make_url(uri)
+        return cls.get_password_masked_url(url)
+
+    @classmethod
+    def get_password_masked_url(cls, url):
+        url_copy = deepcopy(url)
+        if url_copy.password is not None and url_copy.password != PASSWORD_MASK:
+            url_copy.password = PASSWORD_MASK
+        return url_copy
+
     def set_sqlalchemy_uri(self, uri):
-        password_mask = "X" * 10
         conn = sqla.engine.url.make_url(uri)
-        if conn.password != password_mask and not self.custom_password_store:
+        if conn.password != PASSWORD_MASK and not self.custom_password_store:
             # do not over-write the password with the password mask
             self.password = conn.password
-        conn.password = password_mask if conn.password else None
+        conn.password = PASSWORD_MASK if conn.password else None
         self.sqlalchemy_uri = str(conn)  # hides the password
 
+    def get_effective_user(self, url, user_name=None):
+        """
+        Get the effective user, especially during impersonation.
+        :param url: SQL Alchemy URL object
+        :param user_name: Default username
+        :return: The effective username
+        """
+        effective_username = None
+        if self.impersonate_user:
+            effective_username = url.username
+            if user_name:
+                effective_username = user_name
+            elif hasattr(g, 'user') and g.user.username:
+                effective_username = g.user.username
+        return effective_username
+
     def get_sqla_engine(self, schema=None, nullpool=False, user_name=None):
         extra = self.get_extra()
-        uri = make_url(self.sqlalchemy_uri_decrypted)
+        url = make_url(self.sqlalchemy_uri_decrypted)
         params = extra.get('engine_params', {})
         if nullpool:
             params['poolclass'] = NullPool
-        uri = self.db_engine_spec.adjust_database_uri(uri, schema)
-        if self.impersonate_user:
-            eff_username = uri.username
-            if user_name:
-                eff_username = user_name
-            elif hasattr(g, 'user') and g.user.username:
-                eff_username = g.user.username
-            uri.username = eff_username
-        return create_engine(uri, **params)
+        url = self.db_engine_spec.adjust_database_uri(url, schema)
+        effective_username = self.get_effective_user(url, user_name)
+        self.db_engine_spec.modify_url_for_impersonation(url, self.impersonate_user, effective_username)
+
+        masked_url = self.get_password_masked_url(url)
+        logging.info("Database.get_sqla_engine(). Masked URL: {0}".format(masked_url))
+
+        return create_engine(url, **params)
 
     def get_reserved_words(self):
         return self.get_sqla_engine().dialect.preparer.reserved_words
@@ -688,6 +716,10 @@ def db_engine_spec(self):
         return db_engine_specs.engines.get(
             self.backend, db_engine_specs.BaseEngineSpec)
 
+    @classmethod
+    def get_db_engine_spec_for_backend(cls, backend):
+        return db_engine_specs.engines.get(backend, db_engine_specs.BaseEngineSpec)
+
     def grains(self):
         """Defines time granularity database-specific expressions.
 
diff --git a/superset/sql_lab.py b/superset/sql_lab.py
index aeb71f6b79a0e..d9a8e800f7932 100644
--- a/superset/sql_lab.py
+++ b/superset/sql_lab.py
@@ -168,6 +168,7 @@ def handle_error(msg):
     session.merge(query)
     session.commit()
     logging.info("Set query to 'running'")
+    conn = None
     try:
         engine = database.get_sqla_engine(
             schema=query.schema, nullpool=not ctask.request.called_directly, user_name=user_name)
@@ -183,20 +184,23 @@ def handle_error(msg):
         data = db_engine_spec.fetch_data(cursor, query.limit)
     except SoftTimeLimitExceeded as e:
         logging.exception(e)
-        conn.close()
+        if conn is not None:
+            conn.close()
         return handle_error(
             "SQL Lab timeout. This environment's policy is to kill queries "
             "after {} seconds.".format(SQLLAB_TIMEOUT))
     except Exception as e:
         logging.exception(e)
-        conn.close()
+        if conn is not None:
+            conn.close()
         return handle_error(db_engine_spec.extract_error_message(e))
 
     logging.info("Fetching cursor description")
     cursor_description = cursor.description
 
-    conn.commit()
-    conn.close()
+    if conn is not None:
+        conn.commit()
+        conn.close()
 
     if query.status == utils.QueryStatus.STOPPED:
         return json.dumps(
diff --git a/superset/templates/superset/models/database/macros.html b/superset/templates/superset/models/database/macros.html
index e66854c3c4f5c..ec20da1d8fefb 100644
--- a/superset/templates/superset/models/database/macros.html
+++ b/superset/templates/superset/models/database/macros.html
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
         data = JSON.stringify({
           uri: $("#sqlalchemy_uri").val(),
           name: $('#database_name').val(),
+          impersonate_user: $('#impersonate_user').is(':checked'),
           extras: JSON.parse($("#extra").val()),
         })
       } catch(parse_error){
diff --git a/superset/views/core.py b/superset/views/core.py
index 57710bbaa5c92..532faea7d366a 100755
--- a/superset/views/core.py
+++ b/superset/views/core.py
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 from flask_babel import lazy_gettext as _
 
 from sqlalchemy import create_engine
+from sqlalchemy.engine.url import make_url
 from werkzeug.routing import BaseConverter
 
 from superset import (
@@ -236,8 +237,10 @@ class DatabaseView(SupersetModelView, DeleteMixin):  # noqa
             "(http://docs.sqlalchemy.org/en/rel_1_0/core/metadata.html"
             "#sqlalchemy.schema.MetaData) call. ", True),
         'impersonate_user': _(
-            "All the queries in Sql Lab are going to be executed "
-            "on behalf of currently authorized user."),
+            "If Presto, all the queries in SQL Lab are going to be executed as the currently logged on user "
+            "who must have permission to run them.<br/>"
+            "If Hive and hive.server2.enable.doAs is enabled, will run the queries as service account, "
+            "but impersonate the currently logged on user via hive.server2.proxy.user property."),
     }
     label_columns = {
         'expose_in_sqllab': _("Expose in SQL Lab"),
@@ -252,7 +255,7 @@ class DatabaseView(SupersetModelView, DeleteMixin):  # noqa
         'extra': _("Extra"),
         'allow_run_sync': _("Allow Run Sync"),
         'allow_run_async': _("Allow Run Async"),
-        'impersonate_user': _("Impersonate queries to the database"),
+        'impersonate_user': _("Impersonate the logged on user")
     }
 
     def pre_add(self, db):
@@ -1415,8 +1418,10 @@ def add_slices(self, dashboard_id):
     def testconn(self):
         """Tests a sqla connection"""
         try:
+            username = g.user.username if g.user is not None else None
             uri = request.json.get('uri')
             db_name = request.json.get('name')
+            impersonate_user = request.json.get('impersonate_user')
             if db_name:
                 database = (
                     db.session
@@ -1428,6 +1433,15 @@ def testconn(self):
                     # the password-masked uri was passed
                     # use the URI associated with this database
                     uri = database.sqlalchemy_uri_decrypted
+            
+            url = make_url(uri)
+            db_engine = models.Database.get_db_engine_spec_for_backend(url.get_backend_name())
+            db_engine.patch()
+            uri = db_engine.get_uri_for_impersonation(uri, impersonate_user, username)
+            masked_url = database.get_password_masked_url_from_uri(uri)
+
+            logging.info("Superset.testconn(). Masked URL: {0}".format(masked_url))
+
             connect_args = (
                 request.json
                 .get('extras', {})
diff --git a/tests/core_tests.py b/tests/core_tests.py
index e68dea96ad231..c5335538dbe74 100644
--- a/tests/core_tests.py
+++ b/tests/core_tests.py
@@ -276,13 +276,15 @@ def test_misc(self):
         assert self.get_resp('/health') == "OK"
         assert self.get_resp('/ping') == "OK"
 
-    def test_testconn(self):
+    def test_testconn(self, username='admin'):
+        self.login(username=username)
         database = self.get_main_database(db.session)
 
         # validate that the endpoint works with the password-masked sqlalchemy uri
         data = json.dumps({
             'uri': database.safe_sqlalchemy_uri(),
-            'name': 'main'
+            'name': 'main',
+            'impersonate_user': False
         })
         response = self.client.post('/superset/testconn', data=data, content_type='application/json')
         assert response.status_code == 200
@@ -291,7 +293,8 @@ def test_testconn(self):
         # validate that the endpoint works with the decrypted sqlalchemy uri
         data = json.dumps({
             'uri': database.sqlalchemy_uri_decrypted,
-            'name': 'main'
+            'name': 'main',
+            'impersonate_user': False
         })
         response = self.client.post('/superset/testconn', data=data, content_type='application/json')
         assert response.status_code == 200