diff --git a/packer/config_template.go b/packer/config_template.go
index 6ee8f0ae1..a1c7b1e4e 100644
--- a/packer/config_template.go
+++ b/packer/config_template.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/common/uuid"
 	"os"
 	"strconv"
+	"strings"
 	"text/template"
 	"time"
 )
@@ -43,6 +44,8 @@ func NewConfigTemplate() (*ConfigTemplate, error) {
 		"timestamp": templateTimestamp,
 		"user":      result.templateUser,
 		"uuid":      templateUuid,
+		"upper":     strings.ToUpper,
+		"lower":     strings.ToLower,
 	})
 
 	return result, nil
diff --git a/packer/config_template_test.go b/packer/config_template_test.go
index 8604f2c43..7501f2249 100644
--- a/packer/config_template_test.go
+++ b/packer/config_template_test.go
@@ -130,6 +130,42 @@ func TestConfigTemplateProcess_uuid(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestConfigTemplateProcess_upper(t *testing.T) {
+	tpl, err := NewConfigTemplate()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	tpl.UserVars["foo"] = "bar"
+
+	result, err := tpl.Process(`{{user "foo" | upper}}`, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	if result != "BAR" {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %s", result)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestConfigTemplateProcess_lower(t *testing.T) {
+	tpl, err := NewConfigTemplate()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	tpl.UserVars["foo"] = "BAR"
+
+	result, err := tpl.Process(`{{user "foo" | lower}}`, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	if result != "bar" {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %s", result)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestConfigTemplateValidate(t *testing.T) {
 	tpl, err := NewConfigTemplate()
 	if err != nil {