first be sure you have sqlite >=3.7: 1) open python 2)>import sqlite3 3)>print sqlite3.sqlite_version
if you don't have sqlite >=3.7 you can't use wal put the code in models/db.py after database connection db = DAL('sqlite://storage.sqlite') db.executesql('PRAGMA journal_mode=WAL') but you can remove it after one run read more here http://www.sqlite.org/draft/wal.html --