In the area of linear motion, infinite stroke only is provided by electric actuators today, until now there has been no hydraulic alternative. The novel linear hydraulic actuator consists of two double acting cylinders with a common piston rod. The working principle of this actuator for short movements is that at least one piston is connected to the piston rod and the actuator works like an ordinary hydraulic double acting cylinder. For longer movements one of the pistons is connected alternatively to the piston rod providing the drive. In this way the two pistons are moving the piston rod alternatingly in a kind of rope climbing motion. The critical element is the clamping mechanism which is an already known machine element but used in this new application. Advantages of this concept are as follows: The actuator is compact. Very long strokes and piston rods are allowed without side effects of common cylinders. This property is the origin of the name “infinite cylinder”. The cylinder has small chamber volumes and so high hydraulic stiffness and low capacitance. It has also potentially no external leakage. The cylinder can provide twice the rated force for short strokes. Applications for this feature are the plate opening stroke of injection molding machines, or presses with low work to travel stroke ratio, like a press brake. The paper includes a detailed description of the design and the working principle. One critical component is the clamping mechanism which temporarily connects the pistons to the piston rod. The clamping mechanism together with the piston represents a new kind of machine element in the mechanical engineering field. Here the focus will be on the function and the control strategy. With simulation the proposed control strategy and function will be presented and the performance analyzed. The simulation model is backed up by first results from experiments on the early prototype. The experiments carried out so far on the hydraulic clamping mechanism, which is the critical component in the system show very promising results that the required function can be achieved. Furthermore, the function of the whole cylinder has been simulated with good result. For the full paper results from a functioning prototype is also to be expected.