If you have a private key which is encrypted (meaning that you must enter a pass phrase to use it), you can decrypt the private key for use without a password. A typical openssl command and resulting interactive session is shown here:
> openssl rsa -in hostkeySECURE.pem -out hostkeyNOPASSWORD.pem Enter pass phrase for hostkeySECURE.pem: writing RSA key >
Here's an explanation of the command line options: