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:

• -in hostkeySECURE.pem - read in the encrypted private key from the file hostkeySECURE.pem.
• -out hostkeyNOPASSWORD.pem - write out the unencrypted private key to the file hostkeyNOPASSWORD.pem.