Flanges, trunnions, clevises, and lugs are common cylinder mounting options. The piston rod also has mounting attachments to connect the cylinder to the object or machine component that it is pushing or pulling.

A hydraulic cylinder is the actuator or "motor" side of this system. The "generator" side of the hydraulic system is the hydraulic pump which delivers a fixed or regulated flow of oil to the hydraulic cylinder, to move the piston. There are three types of pump widely used: hydraulic hand pump, hydraulic air pump, and hydraulic electric pump.[3] The piston pushes the oil in the other chamber back to the reservoir. If we assume that the oil enters from the cap end, during extension stroke, and the oil pressure in the rod end/head end is approximately zero, the force F on the piston rod equals the pressure P in the cylinder times the piston area A: